


Fire and Ice don't mix

by LordCheesecake



Series: Fire and Ice don't mix [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Durarara!!
Genre: (courtesy of Shizuo), Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Bending (Avatar), Canon-Typical Violence, Cussing, Developing Relationship, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, I'll add tags as I need them, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Rating May Change, enjoy, probably bad at writing too but what can you do, shizuo is big gay but also angry, that's basically it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:53:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 27,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26224498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordCheesecake/pseuds/LordCheesecake
Summary: Two weeks before pro-bending season is set to start, the waterbender on the Golden Leopard-Bears' suddenly quits, leaving them with a critical gap in their team. As the team frantically searches for a new waterbender, Shinra decides to call upon an old favour, promising cryptically that he could solve the team's problems.ORHow Izaya becomes the next member of the rookie pro-bending team, and all the strife Shizuo gets put through in the process.
Relationships: Heiwajima Shizuo & Orihara Izaya, Heiwajima Shizuo/Orihara Izaya
Series: Fire and Ice don't mix [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1610911
Comments: 40
Kudos: 103





	1. First Meetings (don't go well)

**Author's Note:**

> The next installment in my ATLA series, and the fic I've been ready to write since February! It's finally happening, folks, the storylines are coming together :D
> 
> If you're just joining us, I highly recommend reading the first two fics before you start this one, unless you want to be a bit confused. I know it's a pretty big ask, seeing as it 70K of backstory, but if you're interested, please check it out!
> 
> Super duper huge thanks to my beta, @KariHigada!!! Thanks for putting up with all of my paranoid ramblings :))))

_"That's right, Tonrar, pro-bending season is finally back, and you know what that means: rookie teams rising for the chance to represent Ikebukuro in the coveted national competition! There are over 15 new teams in Ikebukuro alone, all fighting to represent the city. Qualifiers begin in two weeks, kicking off with the much-anticipated match between longtime veterans, the Quilled Cobras, and rookie team, the Golden Leopard-Bea-" SMASH_!

With a loud growl of irritation, Shizuo drove his fist through the cheap plastic radio, sending splintered fragments across the weathered wooden desk it was on. Another man, sitting opposite to where the fuming Shizuo was glowering over him, flinched, cowering in wide-eyed horror as his attention snapped away from the droning voice of the newscaster.

"Stop listening to the _damn_ radio," Shizuo hissed.

"L-Listen, Shizuo-"

"I don't want to hear any more of your bullshit excuses, Lau," Shizuo snapped, making the other man whimper. "If you value your life, you are going to tell me why the _fuck_ you're pulling out on us." A mere two weeks before their first and most important match of the season, Lau, the team's waterbender, had suddenly decided to quit.

It came with absolutely no warning. From the second Tom introduced Lau as their waterbender seven months ago, the man never once gave any indication that he didn't want to be there. The deadbeat twenty-six-year-old even seemed _enthusiastic_ to be a part of their team!

Sure, he was a little sleazy at times, rarely showing up for practice and not putting in much effort to raise money for the team, but Shizuo was willing to overlook those flaws! Shizuo would be willing to overlook _anyone's_ flaws at this point! Their team had already been forced to miss last year's season because of limited funds, and Shizuo was _not_ going to wait another year.

"Speak up already, quit stalling!" Shizuo barked, his impatience getting the better of himself.

"I'm sorry!" Lau wailed, bursting into tears as snot dripped down his lower lip and into the little spot of hair he called a mustache. "I just w-wanted to pick up chicks, alright! Do you know how much clout people on pro-bending teams get? A LOT! 

"You joined our team to get your dick wet?" Lau nodded pathetically. Shizuo never wanted to throttle someone more than that moment. 

"B-Besides," Lau stupidly decided to continue, "we're against the Quilled Cobras, right? They've been in the game over a decade longer than we have! We have a snowball's chance in hell to win that! So it's not a huge deal, right?"

Shizuo's lip curled into a snarl, his fingers itching at his sides to deck him in the face. But then Kadota's steadying hand was on his shoulder. "Get out," Kadota said coldly, fixing Lau with a steely glare. "We don't need a dead weight like you."

Lau let out a terrified squeak, all but falling out of his chair in his haste to leave. The second Lau weaselled out the door, the tension building inside of Shizuo snapped, and he was filled with the need to rip something in half.

"Calm down, Shizuo," Kadota sighed as Shizuo stomped agitatedly around the room. "Things haven't gone to total shit yet."

"Uh, actually, I think they have." Shizuo angrily counted to ten, trying to calm himself with one of the techniques Celty had shown him before. It wasn't working.

Tom, who was leaning against the wall by the window, ran a stressed hand through his dreadlocks. The man looked like he'd suddenly aged twenty years, his face sallow and eyes gaunt. "Fuck, what are we going to do?" Tom groaned, taking off his glasses to rub tiredly at his eyes.

"We still have two weeks before the match," Kadota reasoned, but Shizuo could hardly hear it over the grinding of his teeth. "They don't even need to be skilled, all they need to do is fill a spot. Maybe Vorona knows someone from her university." Kadota pulled out his phone, stepping out to call her.

"I might know a few people," Tom mumbled, also pulling out his phone, but far less enthusiastically than Kadota. "Shizuo, do you think anyone from the old team might be interested?"

Shizuo grumbled out a _maybe_ , scrolling through his contacts. He could try contacting a few of the seniors from their old school team, but reaching out to them out of the blue after years of no contact would be weird, right? There were a few girls from the dojo he could ask, but he was almost sure they'd shoot him down. Maybe he could try Aozaki-sensei. He probably didn't do much on his days off, right?

"Wow, what happened here?" Shinra's head poked into the door frame, observing the brewing chaos with a fascinated gleam. "Why is Lau-san puking outside? Did he get food poisoning again?"

"Lau doesn't matter anymore. Who cares about his sorry ass." Shinra raised an eyebrow at Shizuo's hostile statement. "Lau quit," Shizuo huffed, sticking his phone back into his pocket before he could crush it into a shapeless lump of metal.

Shinra's mouth curved into a frown as he set down his bag. "Seriously?"

"Well, he's not here, is he?" Shizuo made a sarcastic gesture through the room. "The bastard didn't even want to be on the team."

"What are we going to do now?" 

Shizuo felt the overboiling anger inside him get doused with ice-cold reality. "There's nothing we can do," Shizuo said, feeling defeat freeze over his rage. "Unless we find a waterbender within two weeks. Even then, we need to teach them all of our strategies, which took Lau months. It'll never happen."

"Oh, come on, Shizuo-kun, be positive!" Shizuo shot Shinra a death glare, and Shinra deflated slightly. "Ah, well, maybe just _try_. What I mean is, don't give up too soon! I _might_ know a guy who can help." He sounded genuine, but the words sounded almost cryptic, like a promise that had gone sour somewhere.

Shizuo just sighed, sitting down into the chair behind the desk and putting his head into his hands. Shinra shifted on his feet, worrying at his lip before quickly exiting into the hall, pulling out his phone from his jacket pocket.

But Shizuo didn't bother to pay attention anymore. His whole body felt cold like he'd been doused in ice water. Even his fingers, which were perpetually hot from his explosive firebending thrumming under his skin, felt like ice against his cheeks.

So now, there he was: nearly twenty with no job, no team, and no way of making back the near five thousand yen he'd contributed for the coming season, plus all their expenses. Not competing this year would be a heavy blow to their already precarious financial position. Even though Tom never mentioned it, Shizuo knew that if things didn't work out this year, they would all be going under.

And then, what was Shizuo supposed to do? He had already built up a crude reputation around him, so few people within the district would be willing to hire. It was a miracle that he had the job that he did, in a dinky little cafe on an unpopulated side street, but even then, he wasn't paid more than minimum wage. He would have to move back in with his parents, which would mean that he'd only be more of a burden on their shoulders. And what of his temper? Pro-bending was Shizuo's only safe outlet for his anger, the only place where he could channel his strength in a non-destructive way. Take that away, and Shizuo once again would become an untamed rampaging monster.

So much was riding on the coming season, but with the way things were going, it would take a miracle to get them out of the mess they were in.

* * *

The sound of waves lapping against the shore filled Izaya's ears as he slung his bag higher up his shoulder and disembarked the boat. Stretching his arms up high, he breathed in the scent of the new city. 

It was so different from the crisp air of the Capital, and Izaya could feel the change all the way to his bones. The atmosphere was suffocating, warm and humid yet strikingly familiar. He could see the lights of the city sprawling far into the distance, a field dotted with glowing yellow, bright enough to blot out the stars. The moon felt so far away, hardly a sliver in the sky and encased in shadow, but Izaya could feel its presence rushing through his veins. Or maybe that was just the adrenaline.

"Orihara," the captain said from behind him. "If all is well here, then I will be returning."

"Of course." Izaya nodded, his hands on his hips. "Report back to the Chieftain that I've made it safely." The captain bowed in response.

Izaya skipped along the dock, humming the theme song from a kids show that Mairu and Kururi liked to watch to annoy him. He felt his heart ache at the thought, but he pushed it down, reminding himself that he would see them again, or he'd have hell to pay. Plus, they'd probably call within a day. Honestly, Izaya would be surprised if they didn't.

Unzipping his jacket, he pulled out a phone and flipped it open. Once he finally managed to get service on the janky old thing, he opened his messages, finding several new unreads.

[izaya-kun!!! let me know when you get there!!!]

[are you almost here? how much longer will you be?]

[will you be here by tomorrow? we do have a time pinch to worry about!]

[also, i hope you found a place to stay :D]

Izaya scowled at the grainy screen, especially irked by that last message. {What's that supposed to mean? I thought you said I'd be staying with you for a while.} Izaya never got a response that night.

Sighing, he pocketed the phone and stared out at the brightly lit street before him. _'Oh well,'_ he thought, grinning as he tilted his chin up and strode into the city, his eyes gleaming as he observed Ikebukuro's active nightlife. _'I suppose I'll just have to explore for the rest of the night!'_

* * *

Celty grimaced when another wave of heat washed over her face, fanning her warm cheeks with her notepad. She was sitting on one of the pro-bending dojo's benches, watching and waiting for Shizuo to work off as much energy as he could.

It had been two days since Lau abandoned ship, and Celty had designated herself as Shizuo's shadow: staying at his side to calm his ever-present fury, and to make sure that he didn't overwork himself too much.

That morning, she had offered to come with Shizuo to his workout at the dojo, expecting him to sweat out the worst of his energy before the sky hit noon. That was nearly five hours ago, and Shizuo was still showing no signs of stopping.

From the other side of the dojo where Shizuo was, a massive column of wheat-gold flame erupted from Shizuo's sports-taped fingers, blasting out another intense wave of heat. He allowed it to linger in the air for a few seconds, listening to the satisfying crackle of the air around him, before letting it dissipate into nothing. Shizuo could feel the wary glances people were shooting at him, but he could hardly care. As long as they didn't bother him, they wouldn't get any trouble.

He tightened his stance to do it again, but Celty's pale hand grabbed his wrist and squeezed tightly. [ENOUGH!] She shoved the note into Shizuo's face. [That's it, it's officially break time!] She tapped her notepad for emphasis.

"Alright, alright." Shizuo wiped the sweat under his nose with the sleeve of his tee-shirt, panting from the exertion. "Just let me do one more..."

Celty pulled him out of the ring before Shizuo could re-steady himself. [Go shower,] she ordered, leaving no room for Shizuo to protest. [Then we'll get lunch, my treat.]

"Fine, but I kinda want to go on a quick run first." Celty rolled her eyes in exasperation. Shizuo grinned. "Come on, it's my day off! Let me do what I want." Shizuo shucked off his sweat-drenched shirt, towelling himself on before pulling on a sleek black and gold athletics sweater with the team's logo and his last name ironed on the back. It was a gift from Kasuka on his nineteenth birthday, and Shizuo wore it proudly for his team. He undid the clip that was holding back his fringe and shook out his sweat-damp hair, running his fingers through it a few times to untangle any knots. "I'll only be out for an hour. After that, I won't do anything too strenuous, I promise."

Celty let out a soundless sigh, then nodded. [Don't take your bag with you, I've got it. Text me when you're done and don't take too long! And stay hydrated, ok!]

"Sure, mom. You're the best," Shizuo called over his shoulder, picking up his pace to a light jog as he ran out the building. He decided to take his usual route: following the streets to historic Ikebukuro, then to the old warehouse district, and finally to Nishiguchi park.

He was in a surprisingly good mood, all things considered. Burying himself in training and keeping his mind and body occupied prevented his thoughts from straying into dangerous territory. Shinra had reassured him that he had everything under control, which was a small comfort that Shizuo latched on to. Tom even had a few backups that were upwards of lukewarm to the sudden offer.

Feeling considerably better than he had twenty-four hours ago, Shizuo slowed his sprint down to a jog, then down to a walk as he rounded the park gates. The park was bustling with people: students wearing a familiar blue uniform, bums with no jobs and nothing better to do, a few old men playing Pai Sho on one of the benches. Walking over to the fountain, he dipped his hand into the water and ran it through his hair. He _definitely_ needed a shower after this. Checking the time, he still had enough time to head back to Russia Sushi to rinse off.

As his eyes drifted away from the clock hanging in the park, Shizuo spotted a dark figure lurking in the trees. Squinting into the shadows, Shizuo could just make out the shape of a young man, hiding in the cover of the spring-full trees. The man was leaning against the trunk, wearing a heavy black jacket with the hood flipped up to obscure his face. It was tufted with poofy cream fur, and it looked like the kind of expensive coat that his Ma would contemplate buying every winter. Thick-soled black boots were laced up on the man's feet, making him look more suited to tackling the tundra than Ikebukuro's mild spring.

It was then that golden eyes met red. 

"Can I help you with something?"

Shizuo felt his eyebrow twitch at the man's oversweet tone. If it were anyone else, Shizuo would have apologized for staring and been on his way. But the man's carmine gaze was hypnotic. And, somehow, annoying as all hell. Shizuo could feel those eyes boring into his soul, catching every fleeting detail and committing it to memory. The unsettling shade of it reminded Shizuo of freshly spilt blood and scabbing skin, and Shizuo could swear that the man smelled of iron and rust, too. The gaze of that complete stranger made Shizuo feel uncomfortably naked, and Shizuo's unease must have shown on his face because the man's Cheshire grin grew wider.

"...Nothing," Shizuo growled, his fists clenched at his sides. Since he was already so wound up from the last few days, it took far more control than usual to reign himself in. "Sorry."

The man hummed, swinging long legs over the branch to face Shizuo. Now that he wasn't half-hidden in shadows, Shizuo could get a good look at the man's face, and he begrudgingly had to admit that the stranger was attractive. Like, _really_ attractive. The man had sharp features and a straight jawline, with long lashes that fanned over those rust-red eyes to cast soft shadows over them. His skin was fair and unmarked, contrasting starkly with his ink-black hair from where it fell rumpled over his forehead. Shizuo could see the elegant line of his neck all the way down to his bird-like collar bones before it disappeared beneath the fabric of his black wrap shirt. 

Shizuo hadn't given it much thought before, but if he was ever to have a type, this man was probably it.

"Hmm, it doesn't _sound_ like nothing." But his _voice_. God, that simpering tone sounded like nails on a chalkboard. "If there's an issue, please, let me know. I'd hate to be a nuisance," the man drawled. His eyes looked bored as he stared down at Shizuo, but there was a glimmer of interest peeking into his gaze that made Shizuo's hackles raise.

_'I can walk away,'_ Shizuo thought, his muscles tensing into preparation for a fight. _'I can just walk away and never see this bastard ever again.'_

But, of course, Shizuo did the exact opposite of that, taking an aggressive step closer. "I was just wondering what some asshole was doing in a tree," Shizuo snapped. "You look like a creep just sitting there watching. What are you, a stalker?"

Shizuo watched the man's face flash into surprise for a second before falling back into a smirk. "Well, that's just not nice at all," the man said, sounding miffed. Shizuo felt some of his carefully held restraint snap. "I thought we could resolve this without mean words, but you're just bullying me."

"Hah?" Behind him, he could hear the people milling around the park carefully backing away, not wanting to get caught in the crosshairs. 

"So much for a warm welcome in an unfamiliar city." The man sighed and shrugged in a resigned way, but the motion of it was too fluid to be natural. "I thought the people of Ikebukuro would be nice. Or maybe you're just an outlier."

"Hah?!"

"Wow, scary. Do you have a habit of threatening people you don't know?"

"Are you looking for a fucking fight or something," Shizuo snarled, feeling heat build beneath his knuckles, manifesting into flames that encased his whole hand.

The stranger's grin widened into manic excitement, any last traces of boredom vanishing into nothing. "Is that what you're offering?" Peaceful resolution? Shizuo didn't know the meaning of those words.

Before Shizuo could react, the man was suddenly in front of him, his eyes manic-bright. Just out of the corner of his eye, he could see water from the fountain shooting into the man's hand, forming a thin-edged blade that glinted in the sunlight.

Shizuo lurched back as the man swung his arm in a wide arc, but he wasn't fast enough. He hissed when the cold knife tore a stinging cut into the centre of his chest, feeling blood seep into the fabric of his sweater. Cupping his hand to his chest, he could feel the steady trickle of warmth, painting his hand red.

A little nick like this was nothing to Shizuo. It would start scabbing soon enough, and it would probably disappear by tomorrow to become yet another scar in Shizuo's vast collection. But his sweater was ruined, torn and bloody. The sweater _Kasuka_ had given him, his first team sweater, was now ruined. Shizuo's vision went red.

Roaring with rage, Shizuo swung twice at the slimy man. The man didn't even look perturbed, narrowly sidestepping each of Shizuo's flame-coated swipes. Shizuo dropped and made a sweeping kick, creating a blazing ring of heat around him that the man yet again dodged.

"I thought you were looking for a fight!"

"Maybe you should give me something worth my attention!" A massive shadow appeared above them, and Shizuo realized that the man had bent the water from the fountain into a dense ball of ice that was heading right for him.

Unfazed, Shizuo lifted his hand, and a cone of flames shot forth from his fingers, sublimating the ice in an instant. When all that was left was a cloud of steam, Shizuo wiped away a drop of sweat that was trailing down his temple, hardly panting from the effort.

"Wow." A slow round of applause greeted Shizuo's ears. "How terrifying," the man purred. "Have anything else to show me, Blondie-kun?"

"Have anything else you wanna see?" Shizuo growled back. The stranger's eyes creased in amusement.

And then, the man turned on his heel and raced out of the park, leaving Shizuo in the dust. But Shizuo's animal-like focus didn't waver, picking out the man's dark form as it weaved through the streets. "You slimy bastard!" Shizuo roared, tearing after the man with flames in his wake. "Get back here!"

* * *

Izaya's blood thrummed with adrenaline as he raced through the unfamiliar city, his grin growing with each narrowly-missed wave of fire that licked at his heels. Each enraged yell that followed him prickled satisfaction in Izaya's veins and surged energy through his blood. It had been a long time since Izaya felt this alive, and _damn_ did it feel good! He felt like an addict, and the adrenaline pumping through his veins was his drug.

So _this_ was the power of the famed Shizuo; this was the strength he'd only ever been able to imagine from Shinra's sparse account of it. 

Izaya hadn't recognized him at first, assuming that he was just a particularly prickly resident of the city. He thought he could pass the time by egging the man on. After all, the man's face was an open book, and Izaya found it entertaining to watch the stranger get angrier and angrier from his half-hearted needling.

But the second those gold-white flames burst around his fingers, Izaya knew who he was in an instant. 

They weren't supposed to meet for another hour, at least. Shinra had texted him earlier in the morning to meet him at some weird restaurant called Russia Sushi on the other side of the city. But when Izaya encountered Shizuo in the park, he just couldn't pass up the opportunity to evaluate the man's strength. Izaya needed to know if Shizuo was all that he was chalked up to be, or if he'd left his comfortable spot in the South for nothing.

Thankfully, the blond didn't disappoint.

It was far more than anything Izaya had imagined! The blond monster's strength was otherworldly, more fitting in the fictional setting of a fantasy story rather than the real world. Yet here it was, displayed proudly before him, and Izaya couldn't get enough of it. And it was so much more than just his bending. The man had strength on par with, perhaps even surpassing, an armadillo-bear, uprooting signposts from the concrete streets as if they were blades of grass in his grip. He chucked trash cans and orange cones around as if they were light as a feather, managing to turn just about anything into dangerous projectiles with a flick of his wrist. He had even lifted a vending machine and threw it straight at Izaya, which crashed with a glorious sound onto some poor man's car.

And this wasn't even Shizuo at his full potential. Even while barreling after Izaya and flinging massive fireballs at his back, Izaya knew that he was holding back. Be it out of respect for the city's property or some subconscious limiter on his strength, Izaya wasn't yet sure. Regardless of the cause, Izaya was determined to draw the rest of that power out of him.

Call it professional curiosity, if you will.

Bending water from a nearby sewer grate, Izaya cloaked himself in it, moulding it around his chest to act as armour and an extension of his arms. Using his water-extended reach like a grappling hook, Izaya grabbed the railing of an apartment's balcony and launched himself into the air. He shot several spikes at the blond beast racing after him, deliberately missing him only to boomerang back to strike Shizuo's sides. Izaya grinned when he simply dispelled them into steam with a twitch of his fingers, but not fast enough to avoid getting nicked a few times.

"Quit jumping around you... you fucking Flea!" Shizuo roared, tearing two more street signs out from the sidewalk, much to the horror of the pedestrians around him, and flung them straight at Izaya's head.

Still dangling from an unsteady perch, Izaya flipped himself onto the balcony and bent the water into a shield, ducking for cover. One signpost embedded itself into the wall a few feet from his side, and the second pierced the ice, stopping just inches from impaling his head. _'...Holy shit,'_ Izaya thought, his eyes widening at the metal staring back at him.

"Woah there," Izaya called, popping his head out from behind the shield. He saw Shizuo's eyes flash with relief for a brief second before darkening back with anger. _'Ah, so the monster_ would _feel bad if he killed me, huh? Well, that's no fun at all.'_ "Careful, Blondie-kun, you could have really hurt someone."

"Who'd care if it's a piece of shit Flea like you!" With any semblance of worry gone, Shizuo shot out another cone of golden fire. Izaya didn't have enough water to dissipate it in time, so he wrapped his body in a protective layer leapt to the ground. He rolled with the impact and maintained the water cloak as he bolted down another unfamiliar street. Drawing water from puddles and sewer grates, Izaya slicked the roads with ice, using it to skate away and shoot up spikes in his wake. "Stop running away, you jumpy, bloodsucking parasite! Get back here so I can kill you!" The pure murder in Shizuo's voice sparked more exhilaration in Izaya's gut. 

It was no empty threat. The tone of it reminded Izaya of his last close brush with death, but this time, Izaya felt no fear.

Instead, he wanted to see more. He wanted to know just how close Shizuo would get to killing him, survival instincts be damned. He wanted to feel the full brunt of this man's power against him, and he knew just the way to do it. _'Sorry, Kine,'_ he mentally apologized, _'but I'm sure you'll understand. After all, this beast isn't a fellow human.'_

Racing through the streets, Izaya kept his eyes peeled for the ideal dead-end alleyway. He needed to find somewhere with enough room for Izaya to make an escape, should he need to, but closed off enough to convince Shizuo that he'd been cornered. It was hard, seeing as Izaya had no clue about the layout of Ikebukuro's roads. Plus, he was making his every move on a split-second basis, so he couldn't accurately assess the terrain he was in.

One too many times, Izaya had to veer around corners or make last-minute turns to avoid getting scorched by another wave of flame. Each burst felt hotter than the last, enough to make Izaya sweat and worry for the integrity of his precious coat. If that beast managed to singe a single hair on the thing, Shizuo would have to be prepared for a _real_ fight, not these theatrics Izaya was putting on.

Finally, Izaya found the perfect dead-end, blocked off by a tall building that Izaya could readily scale for a quick exit. He watched Shizuo round the corner after him, his hands still engulfed in flames as he screeched to a halt.

"I've caught you now, bastard." A feral grin was stretched over Shizuo's face, oozing the same kind of satisfaction a predator would upon catching its prey.

But Izaya was the furthest thing from prey around here.

Izaya had to duck his head to stop his smirk from being seen. _'This is going to be fun!'_

* * *

"I've caught you now, bastard," Shizuo panted. His lips twisted into a sneer as he watched the parasite he'd been chasing across the city slowly back up against the wall. The man was finally cornered, with nowhere to run and no more water to bend.

The Flea's head was down, shadowing his face from view as he slowly lifted his hands in defeat.

Shizuo cracked his knuckles loudly, hardly feeling the heat as flames licked up his elbow. "I'm not usually one for violence," Shizuo started, striding forward with his arms tensed at his sides. "But for you, I think I can make an exception."

Shizuo lunged, his fist aimed squarely at the man's jaw.

"Stop, monster." Suddenly, Shizuo felt his blood run cold, his muscles tensing and cramping involuntarily. The Flea was holding out his hand, his whole arm rigid and unmoving, and his fingers bent into claws. His face was shadowed with concentration, his gaze unwavering in its focus. Shizuo struggled to move his arm, to shift his legs, to do _anything_ , but his limbs refused to cooperate. "That's a good beast."

Then, Izaya flicked his wrist down, and Shizuo found himself on his knees. His blood felt heavy in his veins as if it was suddenly transformed into mercury. It simultaneously felt like fire and ice was bleeding into his arteries, making his heart beat in double time and his brain fuzz. "What the hell?" Shizuo gritted, grunting as pain spiked through his jaw.

"What a shame," the Flea called, walking closer until he was just out of Shizuo's grip. "I had such high hopes for you." With a grunt of effort, Shizuo tried to swipe at the man's shin, managing to get his arm back under control for a second before freezing against his will again.

"What the fuck are you doing to me?" The Flea grinned, which only made Shizuo angrier. _'Is he...bloodbending me? How!? The sun's still out!'_

"Testing you, and unfortunately, I have to tell you that you've failed." The man began to step away, all but skipping out the mouth of the alleyway. But Shizuo wasn't just going to let him go like this.

With a surge of strength, Shizuo broke free of the invisible chains locking him in place, roughly shoving off the foreign hold that had taken over his body. The look of shock on the man's face when Shizuo pivoted to glare at him was gratification at its finest, and the satisfying _crack_ of Shizuo's fist connecting to the high arch of the man's cheek sounded like victory. The man managed to soften the blow with a thin barrier from a stagnant puddle, but Shizuo could already see the dark of a bruise forming on that unblemished skin.

The man flew back from the force of the impact, stumbling but not falling as he leaned against the wall, cupping his cheek with one hand. "Incredible," he laughed, not even a speck of hurt visible in those bright eyes. "Absolutely incredible. Just what kind of monster are you?"

"Oh, you haven't even _seen_ monster yet." The Flea's eyes widened with delight as Shizuo lifted a nearby dumpster over his head, his lips curled into a snarl.

Shizuo was fully prepared to drop it onto him, to crush the cockroach at his feet before it could crawl away. But parasites were known for being hard to kill, and it seemed that the same applied to this pest of a man.

Before Shizuo could do anything, Simon, of all people, dropped down from the heavens as if he was a gift from God himself. Simon's hands came up to brace Shizuo's wrists and stop him in his tracks. "Woah, Shi-zuo!"

"Simon," Shizuo growled, "let go of me, _now_."

"No good, Shi-zuo. Fighting makes heart heavy," Simon said in his usual stilted way.

"Simon!" Shizuo roared, shouldering his way past the man, but it was already too late. All Shizuo saw was the swish of a dark coat and the fluffy ends of a fur trim vanishing behind the corner. "Fuck, he's getting away!"

"Stop. Let it go." Simon eventually coaxed a reluctant Shizuo into setting the dumpster down. "That man may make you angry, but you must not fight. Don't let him stress your day off."

Shizuo sighed heavily, finally feeling the hollowness catch up to him. Sudden guilt made his stomach churn uncomfortably. Even if he thought the man deserved it, Shizuo had definitely taken the whole thing too far. "Fuck," he muttered, scrubbing a hand over his face. He patted out the last of the embers from his tattered sweater, wincing when his fingers brushed tender burnt skin. "Thanks for stepping in."

Simon patted him on the head as if he wasn't a grown man. "Lucky me, had a lunchtime delivery on top floor. Come, Shi-zuo." Simon grabbed Shizuo's shoulders and began to steer him out of the alley. "You eat lunch, too. Food will make you feel better. I make sushi special for you."

"Yeah," Shizuo sighed. "But I should probably text Celty first. Don't want her to worry, y'know?"

"Ah, I have delivery to finish as well. I bring special for you when I am finished."

"Will do, Simon." Shizuo waved at the man as he stepped out of the alley, trying not to feel self-conscious about his roughed-up appearance. He practically could feel everyone's gazes resting on him, their eyes filled with fear that Shizuo would snap again and wreak more havoc.

Pulling up his hood, Shizuo quickened to a light jog, texting Celty that he would meet her in Russia Sushi. As he went back, he found himself retracing the path of destruction he'd laid in the city. He winced every time he saw a crack in the street where a sign should have been or scorch marks decorating the outside of a building. He hoped the damages weren't too costly this time. Ever since his destruction began to peak in high school, the city had gotten into the habit of sending his fines directly to his address. Suffice it to say that Shizuo was not looking forward to it in his mail.

As he made his way across town, Shizuo could feel more and more eyes beginning to stare at him, making his neck burn with self-consciousness and shame. He felt like more of a freak than usual. Hunching in his shoulders, Shizuo hurried his pace, hoping that the shadows cast by his back would be enough to ward off some of the stares.

Shizuo considered asking Celty for a ride, seeing as he was on the other side of the city, and he didn't know if he could bear the fearful looks the whole way back. He decided against it, though, thinking that it was a better idea to walk off the last of his rage-fueled adrenaline rather than cause an unfortunate accident in the restaurant. In the end, to stave off the last embers of his temper, he caved and bought a pack of cigarettes from the a nearby vending machine, smoking two of them and effectively breaking his hard-earned week of sobriety.

By the time Shizuo made it to Russia Sushi's doors, he felt utterly drained. He felt his mood pick up slightly when he saw Celty's black bike parked in its usual spot, but it soured the instant Shizuo stepped inside.

The air was thick with that terrible iron rust stench.

_'That fucking snake-weasel came here?!'_ Shizuo whipped his head back and forth, his eyes narrowing into dangerous slits as he scanned the restaurant. It was the lunch rush, and nearly every booth was filled, but Shizuo didn't see that dark head of hair anywhere.

"Denis!" he growled, marching over to where the man was calmly slicing a piece of tuna behind the counter. "Did a guy about this tall wearing an ugly as shit black coat walk in?" he demanded, holding up his hand in approximation.

Denis glanced up and nodded, jerking his head to the half-curtain divider that led to the kitchen and the upper floor. "Shinra-kun let him in a few minutes ago. They're upstairs."

_'I fucking knew it.'_ "Thanks," he grunted, ignoring Denis' "try not to make too much noise," as he stormed up the stairs. 

Like Denis had said, the stench of the man was worse up here, most concentrated in Tom's office. Not bothering to knock, Shizuo unceremoniously kicked the door open, his lips twisted into a snarl. "Shinra!" he barked, toeing the door shut.

Tom's office, though as pristine as always, had an infestation. There was a coat that hadn't been there before, folded on the desk with a black canvas bag lying on top. A pair of heavy-soled boots were tucked under a table leg, tracking dirt and mud all over the cheap carpeting. And what was worse, there was a parasite sitting in Tom's favourite leather chair, leaning against it as if he was a king, and the chair his throne.

" _You_!"

"Me?" The man blinked innocently at Shizuo, and Shizuo felt his blood pressure spike anew.

Growling, Shizuo stomped closer, raising his fists to resume their fight where they'd left off. But then, Shinra and Celty were both bustling into the room. Celty frantically placed her hands on Shizuo's shoulders in a gesture that was meant to be calming, and Shinra waltzed in as if nothing was wrong.

"Ah, Shizuo-kun!" Shinra chirped, humming as he lugged his overstuffed first aid kit into the room. "I was wondering when you'd join us."

"Shinra, what the fuck it that _thing_ doing here!" Shizuo pointed accusingly at the Flea, who harumphed and tilted his nose up like some spoiled brat.

"You've forgotten me already? I'm hurt." The man had the gall to pout at Shizuo. "And after you bruised up my face, too." He brushed his fingers over the reddened spot painted over the left side of his face.

"Oh, that's how that happened. That makes more sense. So you've already met, huh?" Shinra said, handing the man an ice pack. "I guess that makes this a bit harder." He turned back to face Shizuo, clearing his throat. "Shizuo-kun, I'd like to introduce you to Izaya Orihara-kun, the new waterbender of the Golden Leopard-Bears!"

Shizuo blinked in disbelief, glancing at Celty to see if Shinra was telling the truth. She sighed and nodded. He looked back to the Flea, who was waving at him as if they hadn't tried to kill each other less than an hour ago.

"Nice to meet you, Shizu-chan!"

Shizuo officially felt his brain go offline. "HAH?!"

* * *

Shizuo moodily sipped his milkshake in the corner of the tiny room, rolling his eyes every time that little bastard -- _Izaya_ \-- spoke. That Flea and Shinra had been chatting for way too long, and they were getting along far too well for Shizuo's liking. They talked to each other like they were old friends (or at least Shinra did), but Shizuo still couldn't figure out how they knew each other.

Celty, who was sitting beside him, was bandaging his right arm and making sure that Shinra and the Flea kept their distance from a still-pissed Shizuo.

"Who the hell is this guy anyway," Shizuo grumbled, chewing on his straw.

[I'm not very sure myself] Celty wrote. [Apparently, they met when we went to Chengzhen for that documentary. But I was there too, and I've never seen him before. I guess he and Shinra have been in contact this whole time.]

"He did mention meeting a crazy waterbender there," Shizuo grunted, thinking back to when Shinra first came back from his month-long trip. That mysterious, cage fighting waterbender was probably this Izaya guy. "So Shinra just let some guy he knew for a month join the team?" Celty nodded, giving a vague 'I guess' motion. "Did Tom-senpai approve of this?" _'Please say no.'_

[I'm not sure. Tom said he'll be by as soon as he can, but he's a little preoccupied at the moment.]

"Do you think he'll let this guy on the team?" _'PLEASE SAY NO!'_

[Depending on his skills, maybe.] Shizuo groaned and threw his head back against the wall. [I thought you guys need a new waterbender? I know you two aren't getting along yet, but don't you think this is a golden chance to complete the team?]

"Hell no," Shizuo said matter of factly. The guy was an absolute ass, and Shizuo didn't want anything more to do with him. He couldn't believe he found the Flea attractive, too... "I'd sooner let a cockroach on the team before that Flea."

"Well, that's too bad, Shizu-chan." Shizuo shot his head up to shoot daggers at Izaya, feeling a growl building in his throat. "You're stuck with me now."

"Don't call me that, it's disgusting."

"Aw, I thought we had a bonding moment earlier," Izaya simpered. "I mean, trying to kill each other is a pretty intimate thing, don't you think, Shizu-chan~?"

Stomping over, Shizuo slammed his hand down onto the table. Izaya didn't even flinch. "Shinra, why the fuck did you get _him_! Why not anyone else!"

"Come on, Shizuo-kun," Shinra sighed, "I thought you'd be at least a little bit appreciative. I cashed in my favour just for you guys! And it was an expensive favour!" He saw Izaya roll his eyes at that as if he didn't believe Shinra, but the arrogance of the gesture made Shizuo's blood boil.

"Why would I be excited to have this bastard on the team! He fought me to test me, who the hell in their right mind does that!? He also destroyed my sweater, and, oh yeah! He _bloodbent_ me! Do you have any clue how dangerous that is? Can't I sue him for that?"

"How about we don't do that!" Shinra yelped, waving his hands frantically. "We don't need to bring in lawyers, do we? I'm sure he didn't mean it," Shinra offered, cringing a bit when Shizuo turned his glare to him. "I mean, I know Izaya-kun's dangerous, but other than that, he's pretty harmless!" Shinra insisted as if that wasn't a glaring contradiction. "Besides, I told you, Izaya's crazy skilled! So it wouldn't do any of us any good if he got arrested! I'm sure he'll make a great addition to the team. Granted, he doesn't know how to play yet, but-"

"He doesn't know how to pro-bend?" Shizuo asked wryly.

" _But_!" Shinra loudly said before Shizuo could interject again. "He's a fast learner. There's still plenty of time for you and Kadota-kun to teach him. We don't have much time left, Shizuo. It could be him or nothing."

"Yes," Izaya agreed. "I'd be so thankful if you taught me. I'd love to see you bend in the arena." The words were framed in a mocking, almost suggestive way. But Shizuo could still hear the genuine curiosity in his voice. _'What is wrong with this guy?'_

"Like hell, I'm training you. I'd kill you the second you step in the ring."

"You're more than welcome to try." Izaya's eyes narrowed into slits, the same watchful gleam in his eyes. "But only if you show me how much of a monster you are."

"Are you mocking me? You wanna die that bad!" 

"Ok, that's enough." Shinra quickly stepped in between them, slowly pushing the chair Izaya was sitting on to the other side of the room. "Izaya-kun will stay on this side of the room, and Shizuo-kun, you'll stay on that side, just until Tom-san and Kadota-kun get here, ne?"

Izaya shrugged passively, murmuring something to Shinra, to which he sighed. "Your curiosity knows no bounds, huh?" Shizuo heard Shinra whisper back.

"Fine." Shizuo stormed back over to his side of the room, plopping down beside Celty, and taking an aggressive slurp of his milkshake. "But they'll never let him join. You really think they'll let just anyone on the team? We're desperate, but not that desperate!"

* * *

But, since luck was never on Shizuo's side, Tom and Kadota both took an instant liking to Izaya. The second they met, Tom was shaking Izaya's hand and thanking him profusely for joining the team on such short notice. Kadota wasn't much better, welcoming Izaya to the team gratefully. They were both acting as if Izaya was the gift from fate they'd been praying for, not the devil in disguise that he really was.

Shizuo felt like ripping out his hair. Was he the only one who hated this guy?

"Don't look so down, Shizu-chan." Shizuo turned his head to stare coldly at Izaya, who had suddenly appeared at Shizuo's side. He couldn't help but notice that he was a lot shorter without his boots on. _'...That's kinda cute.'_

"Stop calling me that," he snapped, pushing away the disturbing, half-formed thought into the back of his mind. "God, I barely know you, and I already hate you."

Izaya laughed at that. "Aw, don't say that, it hurts my feelings. I'm here whether you like it or not." 

"I doubt you even have feelings. Why can't you be terrified of me like everyone else," Shizuo grumbled.

"What's there to be scared of?" Izaya asked, sounding genuinely confused. Shizuo's eyes widened in surprise. "A beast who feels bad about destroying everything he sees is about as intimidating to me as a child throwing a tantrum. I fear you the way I fear a six-year-old, which is to say not very much."

Shizuo didn't know what to say. "Thanks...?" he eventually said. He couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit flattered that this man found nothing to be scared of. He was still insulted, don't get him wrong, but adding another name to the short list of people who weren't afraid of him felt nice, too, even if it was a guy like this.

He could see Izaya's eyebrow raise at the response. Izaya held out his hand, and Shizuo stared at it dumbly for a few seconds. Izaya sighed, "How about we put today behind us and start fresh?"

Shizuo's frown resumed its position on his face. "Like I'm believing that for a second." Shizuo slapped his hand away. "I don't want you on my team."

"But everyone else does, and such is the glory of democracy," Izaya said smugly, rubbing the back of his hand.

"I hate you. I wish I killed you when I had the chance."

"You'll have plenty more opportunities for that later.

"You're a dangerous pest that shouldn't be in Ikebukuro." Shizuo sighed heavily, running a resigned hand through his hair. "But I guess you're our only option..."

He saw Izaya grin out of the corner of his eye. "I hope we can make the best of it, Shizu-chan."

"I still fucking hate you. Don't ever try to bloodbend me again."

The Flea smirked. "I'll try not to."

Growling with irritation, Shizuo swung for Izaya's shoulder only to hit air as Izaya twisted out of the way.

"Shinra," he lilted, "I'm tired. I'd be forever grateful if you take me to where I'll be staying."

"Yes, please take him somewhere else," Shizuo butt in.

Shinra laughed awkwardly (never a good sign) and scratched the back of his head. "Well, you see, you won't be staying with Celty and me." Izaya raised a brow for Shinra to continue. But Shizuo already had a sinking feeling that he knew what would come out the bespeckled man's mouth. "So, you'll be staying with Shizuo-kun in the spare room here! Isn't that...great?"

Shizuo never thought he'd want Lau back more than he did at that moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Liked it? Hated it? Let me know!


	2. Rematch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After what was decidedly the worst day of Shizuo's life, Kadota and Tom decide that it's time to teach Izaya how to pro-bend. But rather than being helpful, Shizuo decides that this is the perfect opportunity for a rematch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized in the last chapter that I didn't give Izaya much of a chance to show off his bending, so I thought this chap could supplement that a little! 50% filler, 50% exposition, 100% self-indulgent.
> 
> ALSO! I've renamed Tokyo(which means Eastern Capital) to Hikyō, Hi meaning fire in Japanese, and kyō meaning capital. Basically fire capital for the Fire Nation's Capital(it's cheesy I know but pls bear with me)
> 
> And a very special thanks to @KariHigada for betaing this chapter! You're the best!!! :D
> 
> Enjoy!

Shizuo dragged an exhausted hand over his face, squinting grumpily at Kadota, Tom, and the Flea, who were gathered on the other side of the dojo. He could hear their voices echoing through the empty gym, but Shizuo made no move to join them. He was perfectly content with sulking on the bench, as childish as it seemed. He wasn't in a terribly good mood, considering everything he'd gone through in the past twenty-four hours.

Last night, despite Shizuo's extensive protest, he was forced to room with the Flea. Shinra insisted that Izaya had nowhere else to go and that there was no other choice but to have them share the spare room for a while. 

"It's the most convenient place for him to stay at the moment." Shinra had said, and while the others saw the decision as reasonable, Shizuo certainly did not. It was an invasion of his space without his permission! And with someone he hated too!

Shizuo tried to argue that the Flea could afford to sleep outside for a few nights before finding a place of his own. "He can sleep in the back alley! Just get him a spare futon, he'll be fine!" But, like before, Shizuo was outvoted, and thus gained the pest he was forced to call roommate.

And so, Shizuo's tiny room above Russia Sushi was split into two, even tinier parts. His home transformed itself into a suffocating jail cell in the blink of an eye, and Shizuo could do nothing but watch as it happened.

Things only got worse as the night wore on. The whole time Shizuo was struggling to sleep, he felt hyper-aware of Izaya's presence. Even with a crudely propped up divider between them (courtesy of Simon, who seemed delighted to have another tenant), Shizuo felt like the pest was sleeping right beside him. He could hear Izaya's every breath, could feel every shift of that scrawny little body like vibrations against his skin. The worst part was the Flea stench that was slowly but surely invading every corner of what was once his room, and it drove him nuts.

Halfway through the night, Shizuo heard Izaya silently disappear into the night, vanishing out the window and descending upon the night-dark streets without a word. But even when he was gone, his lingering presence left Shizuo chomping at the bit with frustration and unable to sleep.

He didn't know when Izaya got back, if at all, and he didn't stick around to find out. Instead, he had to drag himself out from the comfort of his futon at the crack of dawn to work an extra shift at the cafe. And dealing with unreasonable customers while sleep-deprived, Shizuo learned, was not a smart combination.

After his shift, he wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed and sleep until morning, but Tom and Kadota had other plans. Tom had texted him around eight to cheerfully inform him that they would be meeting in the dojo in an hour. He had ignored it at first, only to be rudely awakened by a loud thump at the door. From there, Shizuo was kidnapped from his futon and dragged to the gym, both Tom and Kadota ignoring his complaints that they weren't planning to train today.

Izaya was already waiting on one of the benches when they arrived, swinging his legs boredly as he stared out the dojo's high windows. Upon seeing Shizuo's disgruntled face, Izaya shot him a lopsided grin. He looked far too smug for someone who had gotten about as much sleep as Shizuo had, judging by all the restless shuffling from Izaya's side of the room the night before. 

This was a shitty cherry on top of his already shitty sundae. He didn't even understand why he was there! Kadota was more than capable of handling Izaya's training himself! Hell, they basically only needed Izaya there to fill in a spot, everything else, he and Kadota could cover themselves!

He would rather be doing anything else, but Kadota had pulled the 'for the team' card, and Shizuo had to begrudgingly admit that the competition was more important than his distaste for Izaya. 

There was, however, one good thing to come out of today, and that was the golden chance for him and Izaya to have a rematch. Their fight yesterday, if one could even call it that, had consisted more of a chase than an actual brawl. And even then, things had come to a stalemate when Simon intervened. Now, Shizuo needed to settle the score, to tally himself a victory and get revenge over Izaya for bloodbending him.

"Shizuo!" Tom eventually called, beckoning him closer with a wave of his hand. "Let's get started."

Kadota was helping Izaya fasten the last of the straps on the sparring armour when Shizuo walked up, securing the foam plates over Izaya's chest and joints. Looking at them both side by side, Shizuo couldn't help a snort of laughter. Even though Shizuo knew that beneath the baggy uniform was a body built of lean muscle and surprisingly compact strength, when standing next to Kadota, the Flea looked like a toothpick.

Izaya's eyes immediately narrowed at the reaction. "Have something to say, Shizu-chan?" Izaya asked icily, a thinly veiled threat lurking beneath his frosty tone.

"Just thought my middle school uniform would fit you better than Lau's," Shizuo shot back. He mentally patted himself on the back when Izaya's expression darkened with irritation.

Kadota sighed, snapping the last buckle in place and tugging on it to check the fit over Izaya's chest. "Ok, that's enough," Kadota chided, adopting a stern tone. "I get that you two don't get along, but when we're in the ring, we're a team. And being on a team means no infighting, got it?" 

_"He's not on the team,"_ Shizuo wanted to say, but he held his tongue, nodding instead. Kadota _was_ captain, after all, and with that came a certain amount of authority.

"Good. Shizuo, get Orihara up to speed about the waterbending rules. I need to find a helmet that'll fit him. Tom-senpai, make sure they don't bite each other's head off."

Shizuo's face twisted into alarm. "O-Oi, wait!" Shizuo yelled, shooting out a hand to stop him, but Kadota was already slipping away to the equipment storeroom.

"Well, Shizu-chan?" Shizuo gritted his teeth as he slowly turned to look down at Izaya, who was rocking back and forth on his feet with a deceptively innocent grin on his face. "I'm all ears~"

Out of the corner of his eye, Shizuo saw Tom make a deep breathing motion before gesturing for him to continue. "Waterbending rules are simple. No ice, no gas, headshots are ok, got it?" Shizuo said gruffly, offering as few words as possible as he ticked off each of the rules on his fingers.

"Hm, sounds simple enough. So simple, even a mindless animal can get it," Izaya hummed, his tone so pleasant that Shizuo nearly didn't hear that last barb.

Shizuo reached for Izaya's collar, grabbing and yanking at it threateningly. "Say that again, I dare you," he hissed, his blood boiling when Izaya smirked back at him, unfazed.

"What, have I offended you again? You need thicker skin, Shizu-chan." 

_Spirits_ , that damn tone of voice again! "I am going to _kill_ you!"

"Woah, ok, that's enough." Tom was quick to separate them, planting both his hands on Shizuo's shoulders to steer him a few feet back. "Izaya-kun, why don't I explain the rules of the competition first." Still standing between them, Tom pulled out a few papers from his bag and handed them to Izaya.

"So, I'm assuming that Shinra didn't give you many details on what you're competing for based on the short notice. Just to be on the safe side, I'll give you a rundown of everything. Right now, we're in the preliminary round of the Pro-bending Championship Tournament: an annual international competition that takes place during the first week of December. We first have to get through the Hikyō district qualifiers, which takes place in two weeks. All the teams that entered have been sorted into twenty brackets" Tom pointed to a list of teams on the back of the page.

"The winner of each bracket will move on to Nationals, where they'll compete between teams from across the country. At Nationals, the top 3 teams from each nation will go to Republic City for the final tournament. The winning team gets a massive cash prize and the title of Champions for that year."

"Why do preliminaries start in spring when the final competition is in December?" Izaya asked, his eyes flicking over the long list of teams and seemingly committing them to memory. "Why not start in summer?"

"Well, this is technically an international competition, right? And in each nation, there are hundreds of teams competing, so a lot of time is spent in the beginning to weed out the weaker teams. Preliminaries take place at different times depending on the prefecture. Hikyō is one of the largest in terms of the number of teams, so we start the earliest. Nationals take place during the summer, and again, there are a lot of teams to weed out. Fall is sort of a break in the season, where athletes heading to the Championship recover and train."

Tom flipped through his own set of papers, motioning for Izaya to turn to the page listed as bracket six, their team's bracket. "Ok, so you see here?" Tom reached over to tap Izaya's page. "This year, our starting matchup is against the Quilled Cobras. They're veterans in the game, and they were top ten at Nationals last year, so we're going to have to train extra hard to pass that hurdle."

Izaya hummed as he read over the information Tom had given him. "Sounds boring," Izaya said, waving his hand dismissively when Tom finished his explanation. Tom's face fell into uncertainty when Izaya handed the papers back to him. "I don't particularly care about your competition," he said boredly. "I'm just here because I owed Shinra a favour. I'll let you and Shizu-chan over here stress about the logistics of it."

"Bastard," Shizuo growled, "this isn't some game! It fucking matters to us!"

"Actually, I'm quite sure that this whole thing is a game. The very principle is embedded in the sport. And I don't care if it matters to you, it doesn't to me," Izaya said matter of factly.

"Fuck you," Shizuo spat, his voice filled with contempt. "If we didn't need you to fill a spot on the team, I'd wring your neck."

"Ah, but you said it yourself, right? You _need_ me, and because of that, I'm untouchable." Izaya took a cocky step past Tom and into Shizuo's personal space, leaning up and in until their noses were almost touching. "Isn't that right, Shi-zu-chan?"

Shizuo's lips curled into a feral snarl as he felt an all too familiar growl build up in his throat. This close, Shizuo could clearly make out the jewel-red colour of Izaya's eyes. In the sun, his eyes glowed in an unearthly, iridescent way, reflecting an impossibly bright hue like freshly spilt blood or the spindly petals of spider lilies. But here, in the shadows cast by the artificial lights above, his eyes were a deep burgundy brown, more akin to wine or rust or the ever-present scabs over Shizuo's knuckles.

They were painfully distracting, and the glow of mischief in those eyes was doing little to help the situation. But before Shizuo could do anything incriminating, Izaya leaned back and away, that annoying-as-shit smile once again plastered on his face.

Finally, Kadota returned with several helmets in hand, and Shizuo took the moment of peace to cool his head off. He saw Kadota hand Izaya a pair of familiar metal cuffs. "These are sensor cuffs," Kadota explained, locking one around each of Izaya's wrists and pressing a button that caused a blue light to flare at the edges. "They measure how long you bend for. If you go over the three-second limit, a scoreboard will light up, and you'll receive a yellow fan. During today's practice, try to get a feel for what three seconds is. It sounds like a long time, but it goes by like that." Kadota snapped his fingers for emphasis.

"Sounds good, captain," Izaya grinned, spinning the cuffs around his wrists a few times to get used to the weight.

Kadota nodded. "If we're all set, we can start sparring. Nothing too difficult, just to get a gauge of your abilities and to get you used to playing in the arena. You and I will start--"

"No." Kadota turned to Shizuo with a raised brow. "I want to go first." He made quick work of retaping his fingers, cracking his knuckles as he went. "I have a score to settle with this bastard."

"Oh, were you unsatisfied with your win yesterday?" Izaya smirked, his fingers running over the arch of his cheekbones where the dark of a bruise had settled. His fingers went stiff and claw-like. "Or are you seeking revenge for _something else_?"

"Just get in the ring, Flea," Shizuo growled, slicking back his hair with his hand before putting on his helmet.

"Fine by me," Izaya said with a shrug, jumping over the elastic barrier around the ring with ease.

"Ok, guys," Kadota called, taking up the position of referee alongside Tom. "We're playing by normal rules. Knock your opponent behind the lines to gain territory, and the match is yours if you hit them out of the arena. Normal bending rules apply. Orihara, don't worry too much if you don't pick it up right away; in a real match, Shizuo and I will cover you. Just try to get a feel for things. And Shizuo, take it easy, alright?"

"Fine," Shizuo grated out.

Steadying himself on his side of the arena, Shizuo squared his shoulders and braced his knees wide. His eyes tracked Izaya as the other paced around for a bit before settling into a loose stance. _'He's unsteady,'_ Shizuo thought while assessing Izaya's deliberately relaxed posture. _'Loose enough to move quickly, but a good blow to his legs will knock him back.'_

"Scared, Shizu-chan?" Izaya's teasing tone only strengthened Shizuo's conviction to beat him.

"I would be if I were you," Shizuo said back coolly, the entirety of his focus narrowing to the arena before him and his opponent on the other side. "Scared, I-za-ya-kun?"

Izaya smirked at the choice of honorific. "Never."

Kadota blew the whistle, and Shizuo wasted no time to make his first move.

Shizuo quickly sidestepped in a zigzagging pattern and aimed several well-placed blows to Izaya's side and hip. Each flare that exploded from his outstretched fingers exploded against the ground, missing Izaya by a hair. Undeterred, Shizuo kicked out his leg into a sweeping wave of bright white flames that rippled out like meter-high waves of the sea. 

Izaya swiftly leapt out of the way, ricocheting off the elastic barrier and using it as a springboard to spring clear over the flames. Kicking through the air much like a firebender would, Izaya shot out two water whips. The first one narrowly missed Shizuo's leg, and the other was blocked by the iron wall of Shizuo's forearms.

Taking advantage of Izaya still being in the air, Shizuo shot out a long stream of fire, aiming for his torso to knock Izaya back. But Izaya twisted through the air like a cat-fox, dispelling the flames in midair with a water shield before shooting it at Shizuo.

When Izaya landed, he was veering on the edge of the first line, just a meter away from being knocked into zone two. He quickly bent the water from the grates behind him. But the added distance gave Shizuo more than enough time to see where Izaya was aiming for and dissipate his attacks into steam.

Shizuo let out a slashing kick, releasing a diagonal wave of flames at Izaya, only to find that Izaya was nowhere to be found. A thick blanket of steam had settled throughout the ring, fogging his helmet and making it impossible to see the other side. Shizuo heard what sounded like the crack of a whip from further in the fog, and he dropped his hips to brace himself for the coming blow.

What he wasn't expecting, however, was for Izaya to strike at him from above. Izaya had used a water whip to propel himself to a higher vantage point and was using the steam for cover, Shizuo realized.

It felt like being caught in a rainstorm if the rain was made of hundreds of needle-sharp droplets. Shizuo rolled out of the way as a barrage of attacks rained down on him from above. Then, he heard a feather-soft thump from a few metres away, and a hefty blast of water was aimed straight at Shizuo's head.

The force of it was enough to make Shizuo's ears ring and his head spin. _'How are waterbenders allowed to make headshots!'_ Several more blows struck Shizuo's face before he could reorient himself. Finally having enough, Shizuo let out a roar and shot out a massive cone spanning well over half the width of the arena exploded from his fingers. The air hissed and crackled in Shizuo's ears as the last of the water vapour burned away. There was no way Izaya hadn't been knocked off from that.

Except, of course, it wasn't enough. 

With the cover of the steam gone, Izaya dashed forward, lithely dodging and ducking beneath Shizuo's attacks. He kicked out a wave of water from the middle grate, which managed to push Shizuo back by a few feet.

Feeling more irritated with every dodge Izaya made, Shizuo let out twin blazing arcs. One of them struck Izaya's shoulder, sending him sprawling backwards. He punctuated it with a stream of fire, letting out a jet of flames aimed square at Izaya's chest, tasting victory on his tongue.

But then, from the corner of his eye, Shizuo saw Izaya's arm swing wide, and a compact torrent of water shot out from the grate at his feet. It struck him like a punch to the throat, knocking both himself and his attack off balance. Shizuo gasped a breath from the impact, coughing slightly. 

"Fuck!" Shizuo spat, sending a column of flames at Izaya, but it was too late. Izaya ducked and rolled out of the way, and much like what Shizuo had done in the beginning, kicked out his leg, sending a wave of water at Shizuo's abdomen.

The incoming water struck Shizuo hard. The final nail in the coffin was an uppercut to his chin, knocking Shizuo off balance as he fell into zone two.

This, Shizuo realized, was nothing like what he thought Izaya's offensive bending style would be. All he witnessed yesterday was dodging and running, so he knew Izaya would be light on his feet. But he never would have thought that Izaya's movements would be so calculated, so _refined_. Unlike Shizuo's sporadic, heavy-hitting fighting-style, Izaya bent like a well-oiled machine, so methodical in its execution that it was like watching a robot rather than a person. But Shizuo could sense a feral instinct hidden beneath the fluid motion of it, cutthroat and deadly, like the edge of a blade, deliberately dulled but still incredibly dangerous.

Izaya moved like he was putting on a performance, like a dancer on stage displaying a strength that didn't seem possible for such a slim body, and Shizuo was mesmerized by it. It was like watching a work of art come together before his very eyes, and Shizuo couldn't look away. He could only sit and stare as Izaya strode into what was once his territory, his head held high, and his gaze smug. 

It was only the electronic bleating of the scoreboard snapped Shizuo out of his stupor. Looking over at it, he saw the blue light on Izaya's side slowly flashing, indicating that he'd gone over the three-second limit.

"T-That's a yellow fan," Kadota stammered, his eyes wide with shock. Shizuo remembered that neither Tom nor Kadota had ever seen Izaya bend until today, so his apparent skill must have been surprising. "Orihara, your last move doesn't count, and you don't gain any territory."

"Aw, really?" Izaya frowned, pulling his gloves a little tighter over his hands. "What a shame. Three seconds _does_ go by quickly, ne?"

He started walking back to his side as Shizuo scrambled back to his feet, shaking out his joints from where they had locked in place.

"Shizuo," Kadota hissed, beckoning him closer with a quick motion of his hands. "Holy shit, he's amazing!" he whisper-yelled, excitement gleaming in his eyes. "He's leaps and bounds ahead of where Lau was in terms of ability!"

"I realized." Shizuo pulled off his helmet to wipe off the sweat gathering above his lip. "He's a lot better than I thought he'd be," he begrudgingly admitted.

"Shizuo, our chances of making it to Nationals has just skyrocketed!" Tom said, apparently having forgotten Izaya's harsh words toward him from earlier. "This is our chance to make it big!"

"We already had good chances," Shizuo argued. "Stop talking as if we would be doomed without Izaya here. All we needed was someone to fill a blank on the form, remember? Besides, Kadota and I are more than capable. We could have beaten the Quilled Cobras without a waterbender!"

"Then why did he knock you out first," Kadota pointed out.

"Luck. He caught me off guard," Shizuo grumbled, his brows creasing into annoyance. "I won't make the same mistake again."

"We can't cover three positions as a team of two," Kadota reasoned. "We needed more than just a filled spot, Shizuo. Izaya's our teammate now; you should try to accept it. Now go out there and show Izaya what Ikebukuro's Golden Dragon is made of." Kadota gave him a gentle nudge back towards the middle line.

Shizuo scoffed at the use of that dreaded nickname but went without protest, re-affixing his helmet over his head.

"Gossiping about me, Shizu-chan?" Izaya lilted upon Shizuo's return. "It's quite rude to talk about someone behind their back, you know."

"Shut up," Shizuo grunted, rolling his shoulders to loosen them out of the tension they'd strung themselves into.

"Looks like your hopes for revenge aren't going as planned, huh? Want me to go easier on you?"

"Are you ready or what?" Shizuo snapped, feeling involuntary heat build up over his knuckles.

Izaya snorted a laugh, stretching his arm over his shoulder slowly. It painted a picture of effortlessness as if knocking Shizuo back had been an easy feat. And Shizuo would have believed it if not for the stiff posture of his wrists and the nearly unnoticeable tremor of his fingers. "As long as you put in more effort than that pathetic display earlier."

Shizuo couldn't help the lopsided grin as it stretched across his face. Something about Izaya trying to be casual while clearly out of breath was surprisingly amusing. "You're on, Flea."

* * *

It was nearly verging on midnight, and Kadota and Shizuo were tucked in a cozy corner booth in Russia Sushi. Simon had been kind enough to leave a few of the restaurant lights on, as well as a plate of suspiciously-normal looking sushi. A few beer cans were in the middle of the table, along with the two empty cups of instant ramen that Shizuo had downed instead of whatever _kholodets sushi_ was.

They had just gotten back from practice, and Shizuo had to admit that the exhaustion he had felt at the beginning of the evening.

"Feeling smug over your win?" Kadota joked, grinning as Shizuo took a long swig from his milk carton.

"Damn right I am," Shizuo grunted. In the end, after a long hard match, Shizuo managed to score himself a win. It was an incredibly close call, considering Izaya had never stepped foot into a pro-bending ring before in his life. Shizuo and Izaya were surprisingly well-matched in the ring, and it was only Shizuo's experience and knowledge of the intricacies of the game that saved his skin. He had to admit that once Izaya familiarized himself with the rules more, he'd be a fearsome opponent.

"It was well earned," Kadota said, slinging an arm over Shizuo's shoulder. "But seriously, I was _not_ expecting a guy like Orihara to come out with those moves," he hummed, taking a sip of his beer.

"We probably should have," Shizuo mumbled, thinking back to yesterday's fight in the streets. _'And there's the whole "cage fighting street kid" thing that Shinra mentioned,'_ Shizuo thought, sipping his milk. _'I wouldn't be surprised if the Flea was a gang member or something.'_ "Who cares." Shizuo slumped over the table, stretching out his arms until his fingers grazed the edge of the chipping formica table. "I beat him, it's good enough."

The creak of the rickety stairs to his left made Shizuo look up slightly. He saw Izaya duck through the half-curtain that led to the second floor, wearing a black vee neck and dark jeans with his jacket hanging like a cape over his shoulders. Izaya had insisted that he shower here rather than the dojo's changing rooms and had likely used up all their hot water in the process.

Shizuo's eyes kept traitorously trailing over Izaya's neck, dragging over the thin lines of tendons and the invisible thrumming of his artery beneath his skin. He forced his gaze away as Izaya slinked over to where they were sitting, looking unfairly cute with the tips of his hair still dripping with moisture, and his cheeks flushed from the hot water. He fell into the spot beside Kadota, sinking down heavily into the plush vinyl cushions.

"Good job in the ring today," Kadota grinned, handing Izaya a beer, which he took but didn't open. "It was a close call today. It was an impressive first match, I'll tell you.. And against Shizuo, no less."

Shizuo rolled his eyes at what he saw as excessive praise, but Izaya soaked it up. "Thank you," he purred, playing with the tab on the can. "I hope I've shown you what an asset to the team I am."

"Can't be that good of an asset if you can't even bend your hair dry," Shizuo grumbled, his eyes watching as droplets gathered along inky strands before falling to soak the fur around his collar. "You can't train while sick."

"Aw, Shizu-chan, if you're worried about me, you can just say so!" Izaya said, his tone overbright with mockery.

"Why you _little_ \--"

"What's this?" Izaya said, cutting off Shizuo's string of curses. He poked the plate in the middle of them with a chopstick.

"Ah, sometimes we get free food here, but it's usually leftovers on the verge of spoiling or weird sushi combinations that Simon likes to try. You can have some if you want, but I don't recommend it." Kadota wrinkled his nose down at the sushi with what looked like yellow-grey jelly inside. 

Izaya picked up one of the pieces, sniffing it quickly before putting it into his mouth. Much to Shizuo's disgust and disbelief, Izaya let out a contented noise, humming his approval.

"You like that shit?" Shizuo asked incredulously. "Flea, your taste buds are fucked."

"Rude," Izaya sniffed. "It's similar to the food we make in the South during winter. If meat can't be smoked, preserving them in jelly prevents them from spoiling." He popped another piece into his mouth. "I like it."

"Then you can finish it." Shizuo pushed the rest of the plate toward Izaya. "You and Simon can bond over your love of gross food." He glowered at Izaya with fury enough to make a grown man piss his pants, but Izaya just smiled pleasantly back.

Kadota let out a snort of laughter as Shizuo stared murderously at Izaya, downing the last of his beer. "You know, I was really worried about you two, but I think we'll all make a great team."

"He's not on the team," Shizuo insisted again for what felt like the hundredth time that night.

"Keep telling yourself that." Then, Kadota stood up, taking his empty can with him. "I've got work tomorrow, so I'm off."

"Me too," Izaya said, swiping a few more pieces of the disgusting jelly sushi before standing with a flourish of his coat.

Shizuo's face scrunched up in confusion. "Where they hell are you going?"

"Around," Izaya said vaguely. "Into the night, I suppose. Don't worry your pretty little head about me, Shizu-chan, I'll be back in time for tomorrow's practice." With that, Izaya turned on his heel, ignoring Shizuo's shout of 'don't bother' as he flounced out the door.

"Did he leave last night, too?"

Shizuo just groaned, letting his head fall onto the table. At least he'd be able to get a good night's sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case:  
> Kholodets: Another name for aspic. If you have no idea what that is, God, I wish I were you... If you like it, uhhhh, I don't want to be rude but your taste buds are fucked
> 
> Comments and Kudos are greatly appreciated!!


	3. Qualifiers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so much fun to write! Special thanks to @KariHigada for betaing ~💗

Warm spring sunlight filtered through the streets of Ikebukuro, peeking through the partly-cloudy sky to brighten the monotonous greys of the city. It gleaned off the windows of the countless towering buildings, radiant and blinding as Izaya stared up at them, wondering who might be hidden behind each pane.

The streets were alive with the hustle and bustle of people going through the motions of their daily lives: cars moving at a snail's pace through rush hour traffic, students in offensively blue uniforms meandering their way to school, salarymen in pressed suits hurrying to work. Young men and women skulked in the shadows of alleyways and side streets, wearing their gang colours with all the pride that a tiger-seal would wear its stripes.

Izaya sighed, taking in this sight with dreamy eyes. Even though he'd only been living in Ikebukuro for a few weeks, Izaya had the feeling he'd never grow bored with the city's ambiance.

Ikebukuro seemed to attract the strangest, larger than life characters, and some of the shadiest underground dealings that Izaya had seen in a long while. It brought together the perfect cocktail of ingredients for disorder to brew just beneath the surface. It reminded Izaya of Chengzhen, in a way. Both cities maintained a delicate balance, but the slightest push would tip the scale and spill forth the carefully restrained chaos. Izaya felt like a kid standing in front of a polar bear-dog's den, prepared to poke at the sleeping beast while still bearing the scars of his last encounter with it.

Izaya tilted his head back up, hoping to peek through the glare being cast off one of the windows, only to be met with a face full of smoke. 

_'Ah, yes,'_ Izaya thought, scrunching his nose disapprovingly as he glanced up through the fringe of his dark hair. _'_ _How could I forget the most outlandish character in Ikebukuro.'_ He snorted under his breath at his thoughts. As if he could ever forget Shizuo.

Ever since their first encounter in the park, Izaya had been entranced by the blond beast. And it wasn't just his impressive strength that kept Izaya's attention fixated on him. It was also the way emotion seemed to scrawl itself over his face like text on a book, abundantly clear to anyone who was watching, namely Izaya.

Not to mention, the intensity of that emotion never failed to surprise him. It seemed that Shizuo's larger than life strength had lent itself to a larger than life personality. It amazed Izaya that so much feeling, be it rage, happiness, satisfaction, annoyance, could all be condensed and stored into a single being. Izaya always took great joy in causing those emotions to bubble and explode to the surface, _especially_ Shizuo's anger.

His hair-trigger temper was more volatile than Izaya had thought it would be. It only took the bare minimum of prodding to draw out the beast from where it was hiding behind the skin of a normal man, and Izaya found it immensely entertaining. He had made it a game to test the threshold of Shizuo's anger, pressing as lightly as he could until Shizuo snapped and started the next round of _try to kill the Flea_.

Their relationship could be best described as a fragile tolerance of one another. There was no question that Shizuo hated Izaya. After all, in Shizuo's eyes, Izaya had latched himself onto his peaceful life and was slowly but surely sucking away any good that was left. 

But Izaya wasn't exactly happy with their situation either! The last thing he wanted was to be forced into the belly of the beast! Shizuo was a fun character to observe, sure, but he didn't need to get so up close and personal to it! Plus, Shizuo was an absolute slave driver when it came to training. It was all that the blond cared about, and Izaya's body felt sorer than it had since his military days.

"Quit staring at me." The rough drag of Shizuo's voice was followed by another stream of smoke being blown into Izaya's face. "It's fucking creepy."

Izaya waved a hand around his face. "Ah, sorry, Shizu-chan, I was just wondering how many years of your lifespan you're shaving off with all those cancer sticks."

Shizuo's face tightened into a scowl, sucking in one last drag from his cigarette before stubbing it out with his fingers and tossing it into a nearby trashcan. Izaya smudged the glowing embers at his feet out with his boot, smearing grey ash over the grey sidewalk.

"Shut up, Pest," Shizuo hissed. He sounded pissier than usual, each word enunciated like a punch, but Shizuo didn't offer any more than that. He was probably stressed out of his mind. After all, today was the first day of qualifiers. "Kadota, where the hell are they. We're going to be late at this rate."

"Erika just texted me. Apparently, there's traffic, but they'll be here soon." Kadota didn't look much better, and neither did Tom. They were all wide-eyed and restless, filled with anxiety that Izaya didn't even bother to pry into.

"What's the rush, Shizu-chan?" Izaya hoisted his gym bag higher onto his shoulder, staring ahead of him when Shizuo's head whipped to the side to glower at him. "Team registration doesn't close for another two hours, we have plenty of time." He stretched his arms up over his head, smirking at Shizuo's murderous glare. "Well, that's not a pretty face." Shizuo hissed out an unintelligible noise of pure molten rage, his fingers twitching at his sides. Whether it was for another cigarette or to wring his neck, Izaya wasn't sure.

From Shizuo's other side, Kadota peered up from his phone, stretching up to look over the street before tapping Shizuo's arm with the back of his knuckles. "They're here." Following where Kadota was pointing down the road, Izaya grimaced as he caught sight of a green and tan van, large and clunky as it pulled into an empty bit of side street. Even from this far away, Izaya could hear the muffled uproar of conversation from within. The outside of it was immaculately clean as if someone had put a lot of time and effort into waxing and shining the old thing before it got here.

" _That's_ our ride?" Izaya asked, raising a brow.

"Hey." Kadota gently cuffed Izaya over the back of his head. "Be polite. Come on." Tom and Shizuo were already walking ahead, sliding open one of the doors and climbing into the back. "A quick heads up, a few of my other friends are coming to cheer us on. They can be pretty, uh, _intense_ upon first meeting, but they're super friendly, and they're good people."

"I'm sure I'll be able to navigate my way through a conversation," Izaya answered pleasantly. He hadn't heard much of these friends, but from what he'd managed to piece together, he wasn't sure if he was excited to meet them.

As he and Kadota neared the van, the driver's side window rolled down, revealing a young man with ash brown hair and a sharp grin on his face.

"Yo, Kadota," he greeted, leaning one arm on the window sill and extending out the other to clasp Kadota's hand. "You ready?"

Kadota snorted, the sound rough on equal parts amusement and stress. "As ready as we'll ever be. This is Izaya, by the way. Izaya, this is Saburo."

"It's a pleasure," Izaya purred, to which Saburo nodded heavily in return.

"There's room in the back. Just be careful when you're putting down your bags not to scratch anything."

Shizuo was already seated when Izaya and Kadota clambered in, their gear all shoved to the back. Tom was sitting with Saburo, and the second row was already occupied by two people and a massive pile of books. With all the seats occupied, that only left the floor for the three of them to sit on. Judging by how quickly and comfortably Shizuo and Kadota settled in, it wasn't an uncommon occurrence for them.

Grimacing, Izaya shrugged off his bag and hesitantly knelt down, only just managing to catch himself when the van jerked into motion. Izaya settled down as comfortably as he could, which wasn't all that much. He wasn't the fondest of cars, considering the last time he was in one, he'd nearly thrown up all over the dashboard while trying to stay conscious. Just at the memory alone, Izaya could already feel his stomach lurching as the van weaved through the congested streets.

He tried to block out most of it, closing his eyes and tuning out the conversation around him as best he could. That was until he felt a pair of eyes boring into the side of his head.

As he looked up, Izaya's eyes locked with those of a young woman. She was peering over her seat with eyes so intense that Izaya could practically feel that stare burning into his skull. A sandy-haired man was sitting next to her, one arm thrown casually behind the seat as his fox-like eyes focused on him. 

"Can I help you?" Izaya said pleasantly, offering them both a well-practiced smile. He ignored Shizuo's violent scoff of displeasure next to him.

"Hi!" the young woman chirped, thrusting her hand into Izaya's personal space. "You must be Lau's replacement!" Blinking in surprise, Izaya hesitantly ghosted his hand over hers, only for her to grab his hand and shake it with vigour. "I'm Erika Karisawa. You can call me whatever you'd like!"

"Izaya Orihara," Izaya said through gritted teeth, keeping his tone light and even. "It's a pleasure to meet you." The man beside her took Izaya's hand the second it slipped from Erika's.

"I'm Walker Yumasaki. Nice to finally meet you," the man said before launching into a long-winded tirade that Izaya only half-understood. "You look nothing like Kadota-san's description. I was expecting a quiet, mob-looking character who's crazy talented in the ring, but harbours a dark secret. Maybe a cruel past or hidden suffering! The perfect power fantasy protagonist!" Yumasaki sighed heavily. "But, I guess I can appreciate an underdog character."

"Yumacchi!" Erika exclaimed, slapping her friend on the shoulder. "Underdog characters always have the best character arcs, no matter what!" she insisted, holding up her finger as she lectured him. "Audience members always root for the lovable underdog because it's always the most satisfying to watch them succeed, and most heartbreaking to witness them fail!"

"Hmm, but he doesn't _look_ like an underdog," Yumasaki said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he scrutinized Izaya. "Maybe a member of a reverse-harem!" he said, excitedly snapping his fingers.

"My thoughts exactly! With Lau gone, the Golden Leopard-Bears is officially a team made of exclusively bishi pretty boys!"

Yumasaki nodded enthusiastically. "Shizuo-san is the delinquent with a heart of gold."

"Yes, and Dota-chin is the reliable childhood friend! And Iza-Iza is the spoiled prince, cold on the outside and longing for love on the inside. The perfect tsundere!" 

Izaya blinked in confusion. It was rare that he was unable to even make out bits and pieces of a conversation, let alone the whole thing. Nothing that came out of the woman's mouth made sense. It was as if she was speaking a foreign language, and Izaya couldn't parse any meaning from her words. He peeked back uncertainly at Shizuo and Kadota, who both had similar looks of annoyed resignation on their faces. So this was...normal? At the very least, not an uncommon occurrence, right?

"Now, all we need is the heroine to swoop in and join the team, causing chaos among them as they fight for her heart."

"No, no, no! Yumacchi, how many times do I need to tell you, this is the realm of sports! Of raging adrenaline, and testosterone, and rash decisions! And do you know what that means?" she asked with a wiggle of her eyebrow. "Love triangles between men!" she declared. She whipped her head around and pointed straight at Izaya. "This is the ultimate love triangle set up!"

"Spirits, not this again," Yumasaki groaned beside her. "Please stop."

"No, no, hear me out! Seriously, just imagine--"

"Argh, just shut up!" Shizuo growled, his fingers digging hard into the canvas of his battered bag. "Don't mention me in the same sentence as that Flea! Especially not when you're talking about such stupid shit!" he snapped, pointing an offending finger in Izaya's direction. "It's disgusting!"

Erika's eyes went wide. "Yumacchi, they hate each other! Do you know what this means!?" She grabbed Yumasaki's shoulders and shook him around like a limp ragdoll.

Shizuo growled an angry note, leaning forward to take a half-serious swipe at Erika's head. " _Erika_ ," he growled, " _stop_." His tone was grating hard on annoyance, rough like the slide of ice on stone, but it was thankfully enough to bring back the blissful silence.

But it wasn't enough to stop Izaya's head from swimming with dizziness. All that shouting in such a confined space combined with the listless rocking of the van had only aggravated Izaya's motion sickness, growing from an idle discomfort in the back of his head to a full-blown headache. Now, all Izaya could do was sit tight and wait until they arrived at the stadium. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Izaya sighed and stared down at his feet, focusing on anything but the queasiness in his gut.

This was going to be a long drive.

* * *

The Hikyō Pro-Bending Arena was a massive complex, at least three times the size of the dojo the team used for practice in Ikebukuro. Tom had explained to Izaya that there were two pro-bending arenas inside, as well as facilities for other sports. The building was covered in floor to ceiling windows, the panes made of gleaming red, blue, and green stained glass. Groups of people milled in and out of the complex, travelling in herds of threes and all proudly showing off the colours of their respective teams. 

As Izaya hopped out of the van, he couldn't help but stare, slowly taking in the view around him. With his keen eyes, he could effortlessly pick out the veteran teams from the novices.

"Get out of the way," he heard Shizuo say behind him before hopping out, carrying both his and Kadota's gear. "What the hell are you even looking at all the time?"

"Just taking in the sights, Shizu-chan," Izaya answered to Shizuo's half-serious question. "Isn't it interesting to think that half the people we see here won't make it to the next day? We could even be among them and be none the wiser."

Shizuo made a face. "Don't say shit like that. You'll jinx us."

"As if I'm that powerful." Shizuo rolled his eyes, pushing Izaya out of the way so he and Kadota could step out. He moved to stand next to Tom, who was scrolling through an itinerary on his phone.

Tom pivoted on his heel, pointing to the main entrance. "The four of us will head to the registration office first, and then we'll meet up after we figure out which gym our bracket is in, alright?" 

"Yes sir, manager-san sir!" Erika cheered, lifting her hand in a mock salute.

"Text us if you can't find us," Kadota added. "We'll see you inside."

With that, Tom led the three of them into the complex, which was swarming with people. It was hard not to get distracted, especially with all the swirling emotions that ran in excess in places like this. Feelings of dread, excitement, the fear of failure, it permeated the air like a cloud hanging over their heads. 

As they walked through the halls toward gymnasium B -- where they would be playing that day -- they passed by a wall made entirely of glass, a massive window with a view of gym A.

The gym was an expansive open space with tall ceilings and windows everywhere to let natural sunlight filter through. In Izaya's head, he couldn't help but compare it to the sparring hall in Apitu. Something about the caged-in setting and the trapped feeling that came with it was surprisingly comforting. 

The arenas looked far more professional than the one they used for practice back in Ikebukuro. Each hexagonal ring was raised a few metres off the ground, surrounded by water that connected to the built-in grates and rubber padding. There were lights along the lines that divided the arena, and two scoreboards were hung on the walls, polished and neon-bright. The ring at the very end had been roped off, with a poster labelled _Warm-ups Only_ pasted to the side.

Stands for visitors were pushed further to the back. They were mostly empty, only filled by a few onlookers and other teams who weren't scheduled for a match anytime soon.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Kadota said, coming to stand next to Izaya. "Two years ago, Shizuo and I were here for our third-year high school tournament. We managed to get pretty far, too." He sighed, his shoulders loosening a tiny bit. "It feels good to be back."

"It's certainly nice," Izaya agreed, smudging his fingers down against the clean glass. "Let's just hope we stay here." The comment was uttered so casually that Izaya could have been talking about the weather or some other benign topic. But it was still enough for Kadota's posture to go rigid again, his shoulders tensing up to his ears. "I can't wait to meet the Quilled Cobras," Izaya continued obliviously. "I hope they're as formidable as you've made them out to be." He patted a pale Kadota on the arm, a gesture that was more condescending than comforting.

"Oi, Flea," Shizuo growled, stomping closer. The people that shoaled like fish around them quickly scrambled out of the way, hurrying to get out of Shizuo's way. They may not have known Shizuo's reputation as Ibkebukuro's Golden Dragon, but they knew when to steer well clear of danger. 

"Show some respect." Shizuo's brows furrowed into a dangerous scowl, his arms folded across his chest. "Kadota is your senior and your captain. Quit being such a fucking pest." With Shizuo looming over him like this, Izaya could feel the heat radiating from Shizuo's skin, a furnace of rage that bubbled just beneath the surface, held back by a thread on the verge of snapping. His stance was domineering, taking up Izaya's field of vision with the breadth of his shoulders and the intensity of those golden-brown eyes.

"Ah, of course," Izaya finally conceded, dropping his gaze first. "My apologies." His tone was anything but apologetic, but Izaya didn't bother to correct himself. "Weren't we headed to the change room?" He started walking ahead again as if their confrontation had never transpired. He could hear their uncertain footsteps following behind him.

When they neared a small intersection in the hallways, Shizuo's hand suddenly flew out to catch Izaya's shoulder, squeezing tight to stop him in his tracks. 

Izaya flinched at the sudden contact, twisting his arm to wrench himself free of Shizuo's grip. But then, Shizuo's other hand was settling heavy atop his head, his fingers sliding against silky dark hair and brushing behind the ticklish junction of Izaya's ear.

"Shizu-chan, what--"

"There." Despite Izaya's resistance, Shizuo forcefully turned Izaya's head like it was nothing. He pointed to a man in a grey-brown jacket, standing by the water bottle station while staring at his phone. He wasn't very tall, clearly shorter than both Shizuo and Kadota. But he was broader, his shoulders filled out more and the muscles in his legs a little bulkier. His gaze was warm and expressive, open and unguarded.

"The Quilled Cobras' earthbender," Shizuo grunted, his fingers tensing for a fraction of a second across Izaya's scalp, making him shiver at the foreign touch. "You wanted to meet the competition? Well there you go."

Izaya hummed softly, watching the man cap his water bottle and turn to head down the hall. He looked about as intimidating as a teddy bear. But the measured weight of his walk reminded Izaya of the veterans he used to know, the movement of it uncannily similar to some of the most formidable soldiers at Apitu. Izaya knew he would be a fool to write the man off just because he didn't look like much from the outside. _'Certainly not someone to underestimate,'_ Izaya mused. Maybe, just this once, as a show of cooperation, Izaya could... pull a few strings to skew things in their favour.

"I'm thirsty," Izaya said, not taking his eyes off of where the man had disappeared down the hall. "I'm going to get a drink. Shizu-chan, hold my stuff." He pushed his bags into Shizuo's chest without looking, stepping away before Shizuo could make a grab for his collar to stop him.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Shizuo growled after him. 

"I'll be back before the competition starts," Izaya said with a roll of his eyes. "Don't worry, Shizu-chan, I'll buy you a strawberry milk on the way!"

Grinning, Izaya skipped off down the hall, narrowly dodging the water bottle Shizuo threw in his wake. Sticking close to the walls, Izaya tailed after the man, following him from through the winding hallways as he blended into the crowd. Izaya eventually saw him enter an empty seating area, plated from wall to wall with windows that faced the parking lot. 

He waited until the man sat down on one of the benches before ducking into a nearby bathroom. Wetting his hands in the sink, he mussed up his hair and splashed his face with cold water, making himself look sweaty and clammy. 

He stepped out of the bathroom with his hands shaking, and his arms clasped tightly around his stomach. Staggering slightly to make his act more convincing, Izaya stumbled into the sitting area, keeping his eyes half-closed and out of focus. He made a show of tripping over his feet, catching himself at the last minute with carefully-concealed grace.

"Woah, are you alright?" The man extended Izaya a hand, his voice laced with concern.

_'Bingo.'_

Izaya stood quickly, his shoulders raised and tense as he clenched his hands into the bunchy fabric of his shorts. "I-I'm sorry!" he said a little too loudly, bowing from the waist. "I thought this area was empty. Please excuse me!"

The man chuckled and waived off Izaya's faux concern. "Don't worry about it. This _is_ a public space, y'know. Why don't you sit down; you look like you're going to be sick." His hands came up to frame the sides of Izaya's arms as he guided Izaya down onto the bench. "Do you want some water? A can of tea?"

Izaya took in a few shaky breaths before nodding. "P-Please," he said weakly. The man handed him a can of oolong tea, the metal still slick with condensation from the vending machine. Glancing down at the can, Izaya suppressed a grimace. The tea was sweetened.

"Low blood sugar?" the man asked, sitting next to Izaya.

Izaya opened the can shakily then took a sip. "I think...I'm just a little nervous. This is my first competition."

"Ah." He hummed sympathetically. "I remember how nervous I was for my first competition. My advice? Just play your best bending. In competitions, fun comes first!" Izaya whole-heartedly disagreed. Competitions were a show of strength, of power, of dominance. It was the public beating of your opponent, if one played their cards right. 

But, instead of offering the scathing remark sitting on his tongue, Izaya ducked his head into a jerky nod. "Right...okay. My teammates have been stressing me out," he confessed, running a hand through his hair. "They keep talking about how terrifying our first match up is... I'm really regretting joining now. I've barely been on the team for two weeks, and I already want to quit! I've never even _played_ before, let alone be in a competition! And they talk about the Quilled Cobras as if it's a death sentence!" Izaya watched from the corner of his eyes as the man's face morphed from amusement to interest. He didn't even bother trying to hide the emotions as they crossed his face.

"Oh, I guess you're on the Golden Leopard-Bears, then."

Izaya blinked, feigning surprise. "Yes." He shrugged his jacket down enough to reveal the dark windbreaker Tom had given him two days ago. It was made of black, slippery material and had the team's name and logo printed on the front in gold. 

"What a coincidence," the man chuckled, holding out his hand for Izaya to shake. "I'm Kairui Hong, the Quilled Cobras' earthbender."

Izaya's eyes went wide, his whole body jerking back, so hard that he nearly fell off the bench. "O-Oh, I-I..."

Kairui laughed again, grabbing Izaya's hand before Izaya could fully get away. "Hey, chin up, kid. What's your name?"

"Izaya Orihara," he mumbled, putting his head down bashfully. "I'm so sorry, I should have realized who you were when I saw you here."

"Don't sweat it, Orihara-kun. Remember, just play your best bending today and have fun." He stood up, rolling his shoulders and grabbing his things. "I'm looking forward to competing against you and your team."

"Y-Yes," Izaya managed in reply. Kairui gave him a firm pat on the shoulder, then left the same way he came.

Now, with the seating area deserted once more, Izaya dropped his shoulders out of the false-tension he was stringing them into. His rigid posture relaxed as he leaned back into his seat, sighing softly in relief as his aching muscles were allowed to rest. He took another sip of his tea, sticking his tongue out when the sugary taste flooded his mouth.

"That man really is far too gullible," Izaya murmured to himself. His face was too open, his heart too unguarded. Before he even knew it, Izaya had sunk his claws deep into his flesh, and now, there was no escape. But planting the idea in his head was the easy part. The hardest would come down to how convincing an act Izaya could put on.

It really was amazing what a little emotional manipulation could do to a person. It was one of Izaya's favourite tactics in Apitu, convincing new trainees that he was just a harmless kid, only to hustle them out of a victory. And now, if things went according to plan, the Quilled Cobras would sorely underestimate them, and they'd pay the price by sacrificing their win.

Patting down his jacket, Izaya fished out one of the phones he'd brought with him, pressing the home button with his thumb and watching his screen light up with unread messages. He rolled his eyes as he skimmed through them. He'd only been gone for ten minutes; there was no reason to panic!

"Izaya-kun?" Izaya glanced over his shoulder to see Shinra coming up from behind him. He had ridden here with Celty on the back of her motorcycle to get there, but his quiet girlfriend(?) was nowhere to be found. "What are you doing here? Where are the others?"

"Shinra." Izaya slipped his phone back into his pocket and lifted his tea can, shaking it for emphasis. "I was getting a drink, but I got lost."

"Ha! Somehow, I find that hard to believe!"

Izaya shrugged, a small smile creeping onto his face to match Shinra's. "I don't need you to believe me. Where's Celty-san?"

"She's parking her bike. I offered to wait with her, but she insisted I come up first." He sighed longingly as if the brief separation was too much for his heart to bear. "I guess I found you, though."

"Wow, I'm touched by your care," Izaya snorted.

"We should probably get going," Shinra said while looking at his phone, pushing his glasses higher up his nose from where they were slipping. "Shizuo-kun's been texting me non-stop that you ran off. I don't think it'll be good for his blood pressure if you stay missing for much longer."

"A little bit of stress is good for the body," Izaya said. But he was standing up anyway, setting the half-full can of tea next to the trash can. "Lead the way."

Together, the two of them retraced Izaya's steps through the complex. Shinra filled the silence between them with endless chatter, which Izaya somehow found soothing. Shinra's constant rambling reminded him of quieter days in Chengzhen, when Shinra would seek out his company, and the two would spend hours together.

"I would ask you if you're nervous, but something tells me you're not," Shinra said at some point.

"Oh, please. You and I both know I've been in worse _competitions_ before," Izaya said with a smirk, to which Shinra laughed. "As long as my life isn't in danger, I have nothing to worry about."

"Just remember you have to follow the rules. The referees are _way_ more strict about life-endangering moves here."

Izaya rolled his eyes. "Shinra, I've been practicing for the past two weeks; I think I can follow some simple rules. And I'm controlled enough not to harm anyone, I'm not Shizu-chan." 

"Ah, but it _would_ be fun if you just went all out again," Shinra said with a laugh. "I miss seeing you go all out in fights. How cool would it be if you sliced someone with a bit of ice? Oh! Or if you do that suffocation thing again! That was my favourite."

Snorting, Izaya nudged Shinra's shoulder in mock disapproval. "Are you trying to discourage or encourage me? You're a mess of contradictions, Shinra, and frankly, a terrible influence on me."

"You say that as if I _have_ an influence on your life, Izaya-kun." Izaya laughed at that, but he wondered if Shinra really knew how much his appearance in Izaya's life helped him.

"That's right. I'd forgotten how little you mean to me."

"How could you say that to the person that saved your life!" Shinra pouted, his voice pitching high into a whine.

"Oh, please," Izaya scoffed, "I wouldn't have _died_. I would have been fine even if you hadn't been there."

"Liar," Shinra said, but there was no force behind the words. "You were injured, and _definitely_ concussed. I'm surprised you managed to drive away without crashing."

"Says the guy that handed me the keys," Izaya said, shuddering at the memory of dull, aching pain and light that streaked and fuzzed in his vision. "What happened to that car, anyway?"

Shinra shrugged. "Who knows. It was only a rental, anyway, so we didn't have to pay for anything."

Izaya wanted to reminisce more with Shinra. It wasn't often that he had the chance to look back on Chengzhen fondly or think about the few memories that made that abandoned warehouse town a little more tolerable. But they were already rounding the last corner, where the open doors of gym B were waiting.

It hardly took any effort for him to pick Shizuo out from the small crowd that had gathered. Izaya spotted Tom, Kadota, and Celty standing next to him. But Shizuo's advantage of height and his shock of gold hair was all Izaya could notice.

Izaya allowed himself a second to watch the beast from afar. Here, surrounded by hundreds of ordinary people, Shizuo stood out even more than he usually did. He looked distinctly animal-like, with the aggressive hunch of his shoulders and the predatory gleam in his eyes. His wild tangle of golden hair looked like the mane of a gazelle-lion, a crown atop his head that made him king of the beasts. The man all but exuded violence. It was a natural look on him, and Izaya didn't understand why Shizuo hated it so much.

And then, as if tipped off by his monstrous instincts, Shizuo's head turned to stare straight at Izaya. The intensity of that gaze felt paralyzing, but Izaya pushed down the feeling. 

"Celty~!" Shinra cheered, waving exuberantly to his girlfriend before skipping closer, pulling Izaya along by the wrist. 

"Where the _hell_ have you been," Shizuo hissed as they approached, his feet tapping irritably against the polished floor. 

"I was getting a drink! Low blood sugar and whatnot," Izaya protested. "And they ran out of strawberry milk."

"I don't care about _strawberry milk_. Just don't run off like that again."

"Worried about me, Shizu-chan?" Izaya asked with a smirk.

"I'm going to _murder you_."

"Come up with something more creative than that," Izaya said with a roll of his eyes. "The more I hear it, the less intimidated I am. Come on, Shizu-chan, I'm here, aren't I? Plus, I found Shinra."

" _Shinra_ found _you_ ," Shizuo corrected, shoving Izaya's stuff back into his arms. "What are you up to? And stop smirking like that; wipe that shit off your face before I do it for you."

Izaya felt his cheshire grin widen. "I secured us the victory," Izaya said cryptically, thoroughly amused by the way Shizuo's eyes darkened on suspicion.

"What did you do."

Izaya sighed. "And here I was thinking that you would appreciate it. See if I do anything nice for you ever again," he huffed, crossing his arms poutily over his chest.

"Izaya..." Shizuo growled out his name with pure fury on his tongue.

"Have some patience." Izaya's gaze wandered to the other side of the gym, where Kairui was huddled close together with his team. It was as if they were trying to be obvious about it. "You'll see in due time."

* * *

For the next three hours before their match, Izaya was forced to spend all of his free time all but chained to Shizuo's side. His monster teammate had become the world's most annoying guard dog, leashing Izaya so close to his side that they were all but glued together.

It was suffocating. Even though Shizuo was an endless trove of entertainment, he was only enjoyable for short periods, Izaya had realized. So his constant hovering over Izaya's shoulder was more than a little stifling. Izaya's only solace was that Shizuo looked to be just as miserable as Izaya was. His expression was torn between the desire to retreat and the need to stop Izaya from 'doing shady shit' (Shizuo's words, not Izaya's).

Izaya leaned harder against the support of his forearms against the railing of the visitor stands. He fanned his face lightly, the weight of their dark, official uniform was heavy over his chest and shoulders, and it was beginning to get hot. The foam padding was thicker than the sparring armour Kadota had first given him, and it was smooth and polished, clearly new. A black and gold helmet was clutched lightly in his right hand, dangling over the side of the railing.

"Stop that, it's going to fall." Izaya's eyes flicked over to where Shizuo was frowning down at him, offering a grin in response.

"What, like this?" He jerked his arm as if he was going to drop the helmet, laughing when Shizuo nearly lunged over to grab it. Shizuo growled something low and incoherent at Izaya's teasing. "Tetchy, tetchy, Shizu-chan," Izaya lilted, setting the helmet down at his feet. "It would do you some good to relax a bit."

Shizuo's hands tightened against the railing, the polished metal crumpling and folding under his grip. "I am relaxed," Shizuo grated out, his teeth grinding.

Izaya gave Shizuo a disbelieving look. He turned, so his back was leaning against the railing, folding his arms over his chest. "There's no need to be so high strung," Izaya said with a flippant wave of his hand. "We've got more than enough skill among the three of us to win." Plus, a few cards Izaya had up his sleeve, which would be coming into play soon.

Before Shizuo could respond, his phone chimed from where he was keeping it in his helmet. Grimacing, Shizuo read the screen and motioned for Izaya to follow. "Come on," he grunted, "we're starting warm-up."

"Fun!" Izaya cheered, skipping to follow Shizuo. 

They met up with Kadota and Tom, where they were waiting on one side of the warm-up arena.

"Alright, guys. I want us to warm-up like we normally do. Don't worry about the match, nothing's decided until we actually play," Kadota said firmly. "We're a more capable team than everyone realizes. As long as we play as we did during practice, we're going to breeze through these qualifiers." 

Shizuo nodded, his face steeling into determination. Izaya copied the motion, though his focus was held on the other side of the arena, where the Quilled Cobras had begun their warm-up as well. He managed to catch Kairui's eye, who waved at Izaya, giving him a reassuring thumbs-up. Izaya offered a demure wave in return, ducking his head into a nod.

Shizuo, who was watching their interaction with a scrutinizing eye, frowned at Izaya, his head twisting past Kadota to glare at the other side of the gym. "Your staring is suspicious, Shizu-chan," Izaya murmured. "There's no need to be so hostile."

He could feel Shizuo stare at him for a long second before he turned away. "Whatever," Shizuo said, pushing his hair back and away from his forehead before pulling on his helmet. "Of course you're making friends with the competition."

Izaya frowned slightly at Shizuo's scowl. "You think I'm fraternizing with the enemy so you lose on purpose?" he asked incredulously. He'd hit the nail on the head if Shizuo's silence was anything to go by. "Shizu-chan, if I really hated it here, I would have left already. Doing it in such a backwards way would just be more work for me." Shizuo just snorted in response, walking into the warm-up ring before Izaya could get in another word. "Tch, see if I ever do anything nice for you again, beast," he sniffed, pulling on his own helmet and following after Shizuo.

Practice went about as smoothly as Izaya could have hoped it could have, considering he had to act like the clumsiest pro-bender alive. It was a crucial step in Izaya's plan to maintain his appearance as a nervous novice. The kind that tripped over his own feet and helplessly trailed behind his teammates in terms of skill. 

It was enough to throw the rest of the team into a panic. Tom pulled him aside twice to anxiously ask if he was feeling alright, and Shizuo left halfway through after punching straight through a dummy to smoke a cigarette. It was surprisingly fun to watch them all fall apart. It made Izaya feel like a criminal mastermind, observing his carefully-laid chaos fall into place.

Shizuo grabbed Izaya's wrist before they moved to take their starting positions in the arena. "Listen, Flea. I don't know what the fuck is up with you today, but just don't do anything." Shizuo squeezed Izaya's wrist as if he was threatening him. "Let Kadota and me handle everything. Stay to the back and behind us, and focus on dodging, got it?"

Izaya nodded, grimacing when Shizuo's grip tightened before it loosened. He rubbed the sensitive skin of his wrist lightly, sticking out his tongue at Shizuo when he turned his back. _'Rude.'_

The referee at the side blew his whistle hard. "Quilled Cobras and Golden Leopard-Bears to their start positions," he called.

Izaya moved to a spot between Kadota and Shizuo. He saw Kairui mouth _"good luck"_ in his direction, but Izaya didn't bother to respond. There was no need for theatrics or niceties now.

Dropping into his preferred loose stance, Izaya rolled his shoulders and shook out his wrists, giving the opposing waterbender a quick once over. The woman was short and stocky, and she was looking at him as if he was a piece of meat for her to chew up and spit out.

"You know," Izaya said as the referee called to both teams if they were ready. "It's in poor taste to underestimate your opponents." The woman's forehead scrunched in confusion, but then, the whistle blew, and Izaya was set into motion.

As Izaya was expecting, the second the match started, he was hit with a barrage of attacks from all sides. They were trying to eliminate who they perceived to be the weakest link on the opposing team. But their attacks were nothing like the powerful blows that usually accompanied the opening spar. 

Whether they knew it or not, the Quilled Cobras had already lost this match. Izaya had planted the idea in their minds that this was going to be an easy win, a low-effort victory that all but guaranteed that they would proceed to the next round. The Quilled Cobras thought that this was going to be quick and effortless, and Izaya knew that it would be their downfall.

Izaya swiftly dodged a sailing clay disk from where it was aimed at his side, then ducked beneath a stream of flames that were threatening to strike his chest. With a quick upward motion, Izaya blocked an incoming water-whip and fire stream combo, retreating back behind Shizuo to use him as a shield. 

In front of him, Shizuo took the brunt of the oncoming blows, releasing a massive cone of golden flames from his fingers in response. From the corner of his eye, Izaya saw an earth disk spinning through the air to knock Izaya back. He narrowly dodged the disk, knocking it off course before it could hit Kadota, who was holding his ground against the opposing firebender.

Bracing his legs, Izaya took a few steps back before taking a running leap at Shizuo's back. He bent some water beneath his feet to add momentum to his jump. His hands met Shizuo's shoulders at the same time that his feet met the small of his back, but Shizuo's balance didn't so much as teeter. Shizuo made a startled noise in the back of his throat, but Izaya could hardly hear it over the adrenaline roaring in his ears.

Launching himself into the air, Izaya bent the water from the zone behind him, and in a whip-quick motion, struck Kairui under the chin with pin-point accuracy, knocking him cleanly out of the ring. And while Kairui's teammates were still gaping at Izaya, Shizuo kicked out a diagonal lash of flame at the same time Kadota sent three disks into their opponent's stomachs, sending both of them tumbling after Kairui. Izaya landed cleanly on the other side of the zone line, standing tall as he basked in the stunned silence around him. 

The referee blew his whistle. "Round one goes to the Golden Leopard-Bears." Izaya could hear Erika's scream of, "Iza-Iza, that was _amazing_!" from the stands alongside the whooping cheers of Saburo and Walker.

"W-Wait!" the firebender stammered, scrambling to his feet. "That's an illegal move!"

The referee, who was quickly flipping through a rule book, shook his head. "He didn't go over the time limit, and he stayed in his zone. My ruling is that it was a legal move. Point goes to the Golden Leopard-Bears."

Izaya couldn't help but laugh when their coach scrambled to call for a timeout. It was perfect. The more flustered they got, the worse their chances became.

He glanced back over his shoulder to where Kadota and Shizuo were gaping at him with similar expressions of shock. His mouth twisted into a lopsided grin as he raised his chin. "Funny. They aren't as terrifying as you made them out to be." On the scoreboard, one of the lanterns lit up in their victory. All they needed was two more in their favour, and the match would be theirs.

* * *

In the end, they finished their match with a score of three-to-one in their favour, a landslide victory, all things considered. Even though they managed to recover briefly, the shock of a first-round they had gone through created a mental roadblock that they never managed to quite get over. 

Izaya hummed a half-familiar tune as he paced leisurely through the halls to the water fountain. After their match concluded, Kadota had decided that it would be Izaya's responsibility to refill their water bottles after every game as punishment for all the strife he'd put them through. In Izaya's opinion, it was a bit overkill. After all, they had won, hadn't they? No harm, no foul! Plus, Izaya had done something _good_ for the team! That was worth something, right?

Rounding the corner, Izaya spotted a fountain next to a pair of vending machines. Pulling out multiple bottles from his coat pockets, Izaya began the slow process of filling them up one by one.

He was halfway through filling the second when he heard Kairui approach him from behind. Izaya had been expecting this to happen, just not so soon after their match.

"Ah, Kairui-san, I was meaning to come find you after our match ended." Izaya looked up over his shoulder to meet Kairui's gaze, which looked dark with anger. "I just wanted to thank you for your stellar advice. It really helped me through everything. Good game, by the way. I'm so proud to be able to say that I've successfully beaten one of the strongest teams in Hikyō!"

"Oh, save it," Kairui snapped. "You really had me believing that you were just a scared little kid. You're a real sand-shark, aren't you," Kairui said, his voice strained around a smile that looked more like a grimace.

Izaya shrugged, switching the bottle in his hands to fill up the last one. "I've been called worse," Izaya hummed, not paying Kairui and mind. He was reaching out to cap the bottle when Kairui's hand shot out to grab Izaya's forearm.

"You cheated," he grated out, the edge of his words dipping into a growl.

"Cheated? No, no, I did nothing of the sort." Izaya shook his head, twisting his arm free. "I simply engaged in some friendly pre-game banter. Besides, it was your own hubris that led to your downfall. Don't pin that on me, I'm just an inexperienced novice, remember?"

"You cheated," Kairui repeated, this time a little louder and with more force to the words. "You're a liar and a cheater, Orihara. _We_ should be advancing, not you."

"Take it up with the referee, then. Now, If you'll excuse me, my teammates are waiting for water." Izaya turned to leave, but Kairui's hand landed heavily on his shoulder, his blunt nails digging into the leather of his jacket. Izaya's eyes narrowed. "Let go."

Kairui shook his head violently. "Come on, Orihara-kun?" he said, his words weighted and rushed with desperation. "Do you really think cheating in your first competition is something to be proud of--"

"He said to let go." Izaya blinked in mild surprise when he looked over Kairui's shoulder to find Shizuo, his shoulders slouched and relaxed, and his hands slack in his pockets. "If you have any issues, take it up with the ref, not my teammate."

Kairui opened and closed his mouth a few times, looking like a fish out of water as he struggled for his words. Finally, he threw himself away from Izaya as if he'd been burned and fled down the hall, walking away and disappearing around the corner with quick strides.

"I thought I wasn't your teammate, Shizu-chan," Izaya said once Kairui was out of their sight.

"I changed my mind," Shizuo grunted, walking over to the vending machine and popping in a few coins. "I still don't like you, but..." He fixed Izaya with an unreadable stare. "I guess you're not a terrible teammate."

Izaya let out a huff of laughter at that. "How generous of an assessment," he purred. "I'm so lucky to have someone as kind and caring as you here to watch over and guide me."

Shizuo made a face. "Don't be weird about it. Just because you're on the team doesn't make me hate you any less." He pressed a button, and a small milk carton fell out. "But... thanks. You did all that--" he made a gesture with his hands toward Izaya, "--for us, right?"

"Nope!" Izaya said, popping the 'p'. "I did it because I wanted to, nothing more, nothing less. Why would I want to do anything for you, Shizu-chan?"

Shizuo gave him another long, hard stare before he snorted and rolled his eyes. "Right, I should have guessed." 

It wasn't the snappish response for him to stop meddling, nor was it the explosive reaction that Izaya was near-certain he would get. But something about the unthinking grin on Shizuo's face and the amusement purring in his voice rather than anger was just as satisfying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, folks! School's started up here on my end and I'm /waaay/ busier than I thought I'd be :( Nevertheless, I will continue to update this series when I can!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and Kudos are greatly appreciated!!!


	4. Replacement Pt. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *crawls out of a hole 4 months late and tosses this at your feet*
> 
> Thanks to @KariHigada for beta reading this chapter <3!!

"Izaya, incoming!" 

Twisting his shoulders sharply, Izaya narrowly avoided being struck by two earth disks that were racing toward him, nearly veering into Kadota in the process. He quickly sidestepped out of the way, using Kadota's broad back as cover to shoot a whip-quick uppercut at the opposing firebender. The firebender stumbled back, struggling for balance only for his foot to cross the line, forcing him into the end zone. On the other side of the ring, Shizuo let out a massive rip of golden flames, roaring with a searing heat that knocked the other team’s waterbender and earthbender off their feet and out of the arena. A shrill buzzer went off to signal that the Golden Leopard-Bears had gained territory.

It was two weeks after their explosive first match against the Quilled Cobras, and the Golden Leopard-Bears were in the middle of the qualifying round. Despite being rookies, their impressive knockout of a veteran team so early in the game garnered them instant popularity among Ikebukuro's pro-bending fans. Seemingly overnight, they went from relative obscurity to the team everyone had their eyes on. The odds were already stacked in their favour, and today's match against their final opponents, the Vermillion Falcons, would only solidify that fact.

"Thanks for the cover, Dota-chin!" Izaya cheered as they advanced. "You make a good meat shield." Kadota frowned disapprovingly at him, but Izaya could see it quiver at the edges with barely-restrained amusement.

"Focus," Kadota chided, moving to stand next to Shizuo, where he was leering over the lone firebender on the other side of the arena. "We're not done yet."

"As if this will be a challenge," Izaya drawled, smirking when he saw a flash of indignation in the opposing firebender's eyes before it was snuffed out by the hopelessness of his situation. The poor guy nearly had to fight left in him... "Shall I do the honours?"

Shizuo rolled his eyes, jabbing Izaya in the arm with his thumb. He shot Izaya a warning glance. "Don't be an asshole. Let's just wrap it up; simple and clean." Izaya huffed a laugh at Shizuo's unnecessary show of sportsmanship but didn't protest.

Stepping up to the boundary line, Izaya rolled his shoulders and flexed his fingers, looking at the opposing firebender who had dropped into a highly defensive stance. Not that it would help him much anymore. Three against one was hardly fair. Izaya almost felt bad for the poor guy. Almost.

* * *

"Woohoo! We're going to Nationals, baby!" Erika toasted her beer can with a flourish after her exuberant cheer, bouncing up from her chair to lean against the table. It was late in the afternoon, two hours after their match had come to a predictable victory. Erika and Shinra had insisted that they go out and celebrate, dragging them all to Russia Sushi, where they were now.

They were sitting at a crowded corner booth near the back of the restaurant. The table was littered with a random assortment of cheap convenience store booze and a half-empty teapot that no one bothered to refill. The victory sashimi platter Simon brought them an hour earlier was empty, save for a dollop of wasabi and a few pieces of ginger.

Beside Erika, Walker let out a cheer of his own, and soon everyone else was following suit. Izaya flinched at the volume but grinned in spite of himself, lazily following the motion with his own mug of tea. He had to admit, her energy was infectious. Combine that with the victory high Izaya was still riding, and he felt like a giddy child.

"Aah, but at the beginning there, I thought we were done for," Walker sighed, shaking his head. "The first round sets the pace of the game, and when we lost the first round, I thought we were a goner!"

"They definitely came out swinging," Kadota agreed. He had been knocked out first by a well-placed fire-earth combo that had struck his shins and threw off his balance. "Their strategy is insanely tight, hard to pull off but very effective. They cover each other's blindspots, and if they focus their attacks on just one person, they basically have nowhere to hide."

"Exactly," Tom said. He pulled out a spiral-bound notebook and flipped through a few pages before setting it down on the table. "I wrote down what I could during the match, and Shizuo and I'll check the video of it later. They worked together like a well-oiled machine, but once one cog is taken out, they fall apart. If we hadn't managed to hold our ground, they probably would have knocked us off. We definitely got a little lucky this time. I know we already take strategic approaches to each match, but we're going to have to come up with more solid plans of attack once we get to Nationals."

"Aw, you guys are being such downers," Erika whined, slumping back into her seat with a pout on her face. "We're here to _celebrate_! Discuss strategy and boring stuff later!"

"My thoughts exactly, Erika-chan," Izaya lilted, his smirk going a little wider when Erika let out a drunken noise of victory. "Besides, what's the point of strategy when we have a Shizu-chan. Isn't that right, Golden Dragon-san?"

Resting his chin on the edge of his palm, Izaya glanced over at Shizuo with an amused look. He was looking down at his phone, but at the mention of his name, his eyes flicked up to focus on Izaya, glaring back at Izaya's half-lidded, mocking gaze. "Hah?" He scrunched up his brows, clearly not listening to their earlier conversation.

"I _said_ , what's the point of strategizing when good ol' Shizu-chan over here is doing the job already."

"I'm not following."

Izaya rolled his eyes. "Intimidation is half the battle. Sports are as much a mental game as a physical one, so it serves that mentally weakening your opponent through intimidation and scare tactics makes them half the threat they would have been otherwise," Izaya said matter of factly. His words were robotic and concise, almost like that of a textbook. Come to think of it, Izaya probably _had_ read this in a textbook before. "Psychological warfare works for a reason. Plus, Shizu-chan's reputation precedes him. He's already made himself into an urban legend; why not take full advantage of that?"

"Argh, shut up," Shizuo growled, his hackles rising somewhat at Izaya's provoking tone. "It's bad enough as it is, and it's even worse coming out of your mouth."

"Iza-Iza has a point, though!" Erika chimed in. "Remember your third game? Those girls looked like they were gonna piss themselves!" Izaya remembered that match well, mainly for how quickly it went by. The pure terror on their faces when Shizuo stepped into the ring was laughably pathetic. They were already so resigned with defeat that they hardly even tried.

"And when Shizu-chan made that giant wall of flames," Izaya added with a laugh. "I'm surprised they didn't concede right there and then."

"Right, right! Oh! And that one game where he knocked the entire team out of the ring with one breath!"

"That was _definitely_ a Sannin level technique," Walker declared with a serious nod. He moved his hands through a series of complicated gestures, which Erika quickly picked up on. "Katon!" he yelled.

"Karyuu Endan!" they shouted together, disturbing the few other people in the restaurant.

"Ah, but Yumacchi, that's only a Jounin level technique!" The two began to bicker over nonsense, almost as if they were speaking in tongues to each other. But it had Izaya's desired effect. Shizuo was slumped over in his chair, one hand covering his face as the tips of his ears went red with embarrassment. Celty was gently patting his shoulder in a comforting gesture, shooting Izaya a disapproving look, to which he just shrugged.

"Shizuo really is a one-man army." Izaya turned to look at Saburo. where he was sitting on the other side of the table. "This is just one of the reasons why I'm so damn glad that they found you, Orihara-kun. I would hate to have to go up against guys like Shizuo." Saburo winced at the thought, making Kadota laugh.

"Are you a pro-bender yourself?" Izaya asked, surprised that this was the first he'd ever heard of it.

"Nah. I took waterbending lessons as a kid, and I played in elementary. But by the time we got to middle school, the other teams just got tougher and tougher. It stopped being about dumb luck, and it actually became a game of skill. So I dropped it. Best decision I've ever made." Kadota snorted, knocking his forearm against Saburo's shoulder good-naturedly.

"Oh, come off it. You weren't as bad as you say you were." 

Saburo turned his grin to Izaya, pointing a thumb at Kadota. "You should have seen how desperate they were before you got here," he laughed. "The guy before you left last minute before the competition started. They were an absolute mess trying to find a replacement. They even asked _me_ to join!"

Izaya laughed good-naturedly as he was supposed to. "It's a good thing that I stepped in then."

"Like hell it is," Shizuo snapped, growling in a soft tone that Izaya could feel more than he could hear. "I would much rather have Saburo on the team." He grabbed a milk carton from the table, chewing on the straw moodily.

"That's a little unfair of you, don't you think, Shizuo-kun," Shinra, who was acting as a buffer between Shizuo and Izaya, piped up. He nudged Izaya's shoulder in a friendly manner. "Izaya-kun's been on the team for more than a month now. Don't you think it's about time you accept it?" Shizuo's lips curled in disgust at Shinra's suggestion.

"Is it too late to list Saburo as our waterbender?" Shizuo groaned to Tom, who chuckled.

"It might be a bit late, but I'll see what I can do." There was a twist of unease in Izaya's gut. Even as he reminded himself that Tom was just joking, that they couldn't afford to remove him even if they wanted to, he couldn't shake the ice-cold tension winding up his spine and through his shoulders. Izaya absolutely hated this feeling, this discomfort he'd felt time and time again as a child. Izaya wasn't some disposable asset, so why even joke about it? He was the one thing even keeping them in this damn competition; surely they realized this? There was no humour in improbability, no fun to be found in scenarios that would never happen in a million years.

"Honestly though," Kadota continued, unaware of Izaya's thoughts, "Saburo being on the team would have been a sight to see," Kadota laughed, clapping his friend on the back, who gave a snort of his own. "The more I think about it, the better it sounds. Not having to break up fights everyday sounds nice. No hard feelings, though, Izaya."

Izaya managed a smile, but he could feel the falseness of it straining the corners of his mouth. "None taken," he said smoothly despite the discomfort contorting itself into a lead weight in the pit of his stomach. Ah, he really hated this. "Funnily enough, I'm almost inclined to agree with you."

Kadota raised an eyebrow. "You want to be replaced that bad?"

"As if you could replace me," Izaya scoffed, bristling internally at the notion. His glare hardened to steel as he mentally sized Saburo up. No matter how you sliced it, Saburo was nothing compared to him. In fact, the two couldn't even be measured against each other because the difference in their abilities was that far apart. And they all had to be idiots to not realize that. "I just think that if I'm not here next year, it wouldn't hurt to have a backup bender on the bench."

"Woah, woah, you're not going to be on the team next year?" Saburo balked, his eyes going wide in alarm. He whipped his head over to Kadota, "Did you know about this?"

"I'm merely speaking in hypotheticals. Nothing's certain; who knows, maybe next year you'll have to fill my spot. And if it comes to that, it'll give me some peace of mind if I know who I'm being replaced by." _'And to prove just how incomparable they were to each other.'_ "So what do you say?" 

He watched the cogs in Saburo's mind begin to turn, slowly parsing out what Izaya was saying. "What?" he finally said, rather ineloquently.

Izaya offered Saburo a smile that didn't touch his eyes, like the sneer of a cat-owl mocking its prey. "A round in the ring, just the two of us."

"I'm sorry, what?" Saburo repeated, a look of dread crossing his face. "How did we even get here!?"

"Oh, come on, just a friendly spar between two waterbenders. Think of it as a chance to dust off your rusty skills." He heard Shinra snort into his hand beside him, and out of the corner of Izaya's eye, he could see Shinra's shoulders shaking with barely contained laughter. He chose to ignore it, jamming his heel over Shinra's toes when it started to get annoying. "I can even give you a few pointers. It's never a bad idea to improve on your old skills."

There was a gasp to Izaya's right. Erika was pushing Walker away with a manic gleam in her eyes. "That sounds like an amazing idea!" Erika was practically vibrating in her seat, her eyes darting back and forth between Izaya and Saburo. "I don't even think I've seen you bend before!"

Letting out a flustered noise, "Because it's embarrassing! I'm terrible at it!" Saburo exclaimed, his face flushing pink.

"I second this idea," Walker declared, slamming his fist against the table and paying little attention to the annoyed glare he got from other patrons. "This sounds like great entertainment! We'll even come to cheer you on!"

Saburo groaned, shaking his head. "Don't look like that." Saburo glanced up to look at Izaya. "It'll be fun, nothing serious. If you've got free time tomorrow, we could do a round or two."

"Don't do it, man." Shizuo fixed Izaya with a suspicious glare. It was a look Izaya had gotten used to getting, only this time, there was an edge to it that Izaya didn't recognize. Something far more hostile than the norm. "Knowing the Flea, he's trying to get something out of you. If you give in, you're just playing into his hand."

"Nonsense." Izaya waved his hand dismissively, leaning closer into Saburo's space. "Shizu-chan's biased and paranoid. It's just a spar, nothing more, nothing less. If you're not comfortable, I won't force you, of course. I just thought it would be fun." _'Just take the bait,'_ Izaya thought, his hand clenching into a tight fist beneath the table. _'I'll make it quick for you, I promise.'_

"...I guess I have some time next week." Izaya felt his grin widen, adopting some of the mania that Erika had. 

"It's settled then," Izaya purred, holding out his hand for Saburo to shake. "I look forward to our match."

Saburo snorted a laugh, taking Izaya's outstretched hand. What a poor fool. "Go easy on me, alright? I don't want to embarrass myself that bad."

"Duly noted."

* * *

"Having fun, Izaya-kun?" Izaya glanced down at Shinra, sitting on the bench with a stupid grin on his face.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he sniffed, stretching one arm behind his back. "Of course, I am. I love one-on-one spars. Shouldn't you of all people know that?"

"Come on, you know what I mean." Shinra gave him an unsubtle wink, earning a sharp flick on the forehead from Izaya.

Ignoring Shinra's whining, Izaya grabbed his helmet, twirling it in his hands. On the other side of the gym, Saburo was going through a few basic exercises with Kadota. Izaya watched from afar as Saburo pushed and pulled a wave at the edge of the training pool and slowly passed a sphere of water from one hand to another in a rhythmic pattern. Though his movements were shaky, his form was proper, and it was clear that he had a solid waterbending foundation. Saburo wasn't as bad as he'd initially claimed. Even so, he had a snowball's chance in hell of holding his ground against Izaya, a fact that uncurled some of the tension that had settled in Izaya's gut.

"By the way," Shinra piped up again, "you should probably know that Shizuo-kun's not coming today. He's got work."

"I'm aware." He was not. Izaya had lived with Shizuo long enough to have memorized his work schedule, and he knew that today was one of Shizuo's precious days off. Not that Shizuo's presence was of any importance anyway. "What of it?"

"Oh, I thought you would be surprised or something, maybe a little disappointing."

"Why would you think that?" Izaya's brows scrunched in confusion, a frown forming at the corners of his mouth. "I've already got an audience to impress." He made a vague gesture to the stands, where Walker and Erika were cheering Saburo through his exercises, their voices echoing into incoherence off the walls. "Whether Shizu-chan's a part of it or not won't change anything. Besides, all he'd be is an over-loud distraction. I'm not terribly fond of getting yelled at."

Shinra snorted disbelievingly. "Right, a distraction. And how terrible would it be if Shizuo-kun distracted you during the most high-stakes fight of your life." There was a mocking undertone to his words and a shimmer of laughter in his eyes.

"Do you have something you'd like to say to me?" Izaya asked sweetly. It was about as clear a threat as a knife to the neck would be, but as usual, Shinra just laughed it off. "Because if you do, I'm all ears."

"Nope," he said, popping the 'p' and lifting his hands in surrender. "I'm just here to watch, nothing more, I promise."

Rolling his eyes, Izaya tucked his helmet under his left arm, pointing warningly at Shinra with his other. "Well, if you think of anything, be sure to keep it to yourself." He lifted his head as he turned away, ignoring Shinra's half-muffled snorts of laughter. "Sa-bu-ro!" Izaya called in a sing-songy voice. "Are you ready?"

The water in Saburo's hands sloshed back into the pool, scattering droplets across the ground with handling rough enough to make Izaya grimace internally. Saburo wiped his hands on the front of his pants. "As ready as I'll ever be," he said with a shrug, brushing the loose strands of his bangs out of his face. "Is it too late for me to back out?"

"Of course not," Izaya replied smoothly to Saburo's half-serious question. But there was no way Izaya would let him go that easily. That would just be unfair. "If you really want to, go ahead."

"Boo!" Walker yelled from the stands. "Boo! Coward!"

"Don't be a chicken!" Erika screamed beside Walker. "You've got this, Saburo!"

Izaya watched Saburo glance at the stands anxiously for a second, then he closed his eyes and sighed heavily. "Take it easy on me, alright?" he said with a weak smile. Izaya just hummed in response, pushing Saburo toward one of the sparring rings.

"Kick his scrawny ass, Saburo! Break that twig in half!" Erika screamed, her voice echoing off the gym's walls. Saburo and Kadota at least had the decency to stifle their laughter. Shinra, on the other hand, was cackling like a mad man. 

Gritting his teeth, Izaya ignored how hot his ears felt and stepped up to the ring, pacing to the opposite side of the arena. "So, we're going with modified Northern-style rules. No ice, no bending for longer than three seconds, last man standing gets the point. First to five wins," Izaya explained breezily, pushing his bangs back before tugging on the helmet. "Sounds good to you?"

Saburo just stared at him blankly. "Uh... are those normal rules?"

"It's basically the same as a normal match, right, Izaya?" Kadota called as he climbed the referee's stand. Izaya nodded, adjusting the timing cuffs around his wrists and pressing them on, watching the scoreboard light up for a brief moment. "Good. Get in position."

"Best of luck to you, Saburo," Izaya said, extending out a hand for Saburo to take tentatively.

"Ah, y-yeah." Izaya could feel Saburo's hand shaking with nerves. "Go easy on me, alright?" Saburo's watery smile portrayed anything but confidence, but Izaya didn't for a second feel an ounce of sympathy for him. _'It's nothing against you personally, Saburo. It's just for convenience's sake.'_

They took their positions opposite of each other. "Are both sides ready?" Kadota lifted a whistle to his lips, blowing out a shrill sound. "Begin!"

Izaya carefully watched as Saburo nervously paced back and forth, falling into step with the other man as they slowly circled each other. Like the motion of a dance, Izaya followed the predictable path of his steps as if it had been choreographed beforehand. He allowed Saburo to take control, following the syrup-slow pace the other was setting and biding in wait for him to make the first move.

Saburo barked out a nervous laugh, betraying how unnerved the mirror-perfect motion was. "Fuck, man, do something!" he eventually shouted, clumsily feinting to Izaya's side in an attempt to draw Izaya into a fight. "Why are you just copying me!"

"I'm handing you the right of way on a silver platter," Izaya replied, copying Saburo's feint that made the other flinch back in a protective motion. Izaya straightened from his stance, opening his arms wide and leaving his chest open and vulnerable. "The first move's all yours."

"Fuck that!" Saburo yelled, more nervous laughter spilling from his lips. His eyes darted from the target Izaya made of his chest to the nearest water grate, psyching himself up until he finally made the first move. Veering to the side, Saburo shot a stream of water up to Izaya's face, nearly losing his balance before he caught himself. 

He had aimed a foot above Izaya's head, clearly having realized Izaya's preferred advantage of height. It was a good idea, Izaya had to admit. If only he'd placed a blow or two at Izaya's chest before he did it. Saburo's quick thinking ended up doing more harm than good. Izaya simply stepped out of the way, twisting before a second and third water whip could strike his face and neck. 

Using the momentum from his spin, Izaya swooped one arm low to the ground, mimicking Saburo again as he shot a whip-quick jet at Saburo's face. Saburo flinched away from the blow, his shoulders hunching inward before he could lift his arms to block the strike. Without wasting a second, Izaya shot out two more water whips, lashing with strength enough to knock Saburo straight off his feet. The blows pushed Saburo dangerously close to the end zone and out of the ring, but Izaya had left him with just enough room to scramble to his knees.

"Not bad," Izaya praised, though it probably sounded more like mockery in Saburo's ears. "And here you were leading me to believe you were rusty." 

A frown tugged at the corners of Saburo's lips as he steadied himself, rubbing his out of practice wrists gingerly and shooting Izaya with an unsure glance. "I _am_ rusty," he muttered, and Izaya had to suppress the urge to roll his eyes at the petulant tone. Saburo wasn't a child; what was the point of pouting about it now?

"Well," Izaya continued when Saburo finally resumed his defensive stance, "if you're so sure about giving up the lead."

Bringing his hands up high over his head, Izaya bent the water from the grates up and out, forming a massive wave. Saburo's jaw dropped, and in his split-second of horror, he only barely managed to lock his knees and brace himself before the surging tide swept over him. The wave crashed against the arena's floor, sweeping out and swallowing Saburo in its wake. The torrent slammed Saburo off his feet and carried him out of the ring. Before Izaya's timer could go up, he abruptly released his hold on the water he controlled. The waves slowed and thinned out, draining down the strategically placed water grates. And in the middle of the massive puddle laid Saburo, water dripping from his helmet and soaking his uniform.

Saburo scrabbled at the helmet's straps, finally managing to tug it off and shake the water from his hair. With a gloved hand, he roughly scrubbed the water from his face, pushing his tangled bangs out of his face. 

"Match one," Izaya chirped brightly, skipping over to offer Saburo a hand with a little more spring in his step than he had earlier. "Certainly not terrible."

"What happened to going easy on me, asshole," Saburo spluttered, hesitating for half a second before taking Izaya's hand. Though his tone was still light, there was a strain to the sound that was deeply satisfying to Izaya's ears.

"I'll go even easier in the next round," Izaya promised airily, hoisting Saburo back to his feet with a rough tug of his arm. "Don't look so defeated; you have four more rounds to redeem yourself!"

"...Yeah, sure..."

"You did great, Saburo!" Walker screamed, whooping and hollering from the stands. 

"Don't mind, don't mind!" Erika was jumping up and down, rattling the metal stands with her movements. Izaya glanced over at Shinra, half-wondering if he had a cheer squad as well, only to find that he was nowhere to be found. _'If you're going to take the time to show up, at least stay,'_ Izaya thought with a click of his tongue.

"Saburo," Kadota called from the referee's stand. He looked ready to climb down at a moment's notice, his brows furrowed and mouth turned on a concerned frown. "Are you alright?"

Izaya gave Kadota a thumbs up, patting Saburo on the back. "He's good!" 

"Take it easy, guys," Kadota said with a warning tone. He fixed Izaya with a stern look, to which Izaya just smiled back innocently. "Remember, this is just for fun, alright?"

"Of course." Izaya peered down at Saburo with an apologetic smile that didn't touch his eyes. "I'll show you a little more mercy next round." His words made Saburo look even more off-put than before, looking at Izaya with less wariness and more unease, just a step below fear. It made the sadistic, competitive part of Izaya's heart sing. It flooded his mind with memories of sparring matches, the ones that left him bloody and bruised and only made worth it by the defeat of his opponent. Back when looking out for yourself was all that mattered.

The harsh blow of the whistle snapped Izaya out of his memories. "If you're both ready, take your starting positions."

Taking a step back, "Shall we?" Izaya gestured for Saburo to move first, once again offering him the sense of control that only Izaya really held. As Saburo walked in front of him, Izaya smirked at the back of his head. _'This guy really just falls into every trap I set for him, ne?'_

* * *

Izaya rocked back and forth on his feet, humming the tune to the soda commercial that was always playing in the store beside Russia Sushi. He was waiting just across the restaurant at the stoplight, his gym bag slung heavy over his shoulders and a skip in his step. Despite the sweat still clinging sticky against his skin and the subtle burn every time he flexed his shoulders, it all felt damn good. 

As Izaya had predicted, the rest of their matches only increased Izaya's win streak until they were left with a final score of five-to-one in Izaya's favour. It was pitiful, really. Even when Izaya threw him a bone, Saburo was only able to get one point. At least he served his purpose, Izaya thought as the cars whizzed by. Now, they wouldn't even think about replacing him unless they wanted to be dead in the water when their next match comes.

As soon as the light turned green, Izaya wasted no time in skipping forward, spotting Simon from where he was handing out flyers and coupons to passing pedestrians. "Simon!" Izaya called out with a wave, picking up his pace, so he was standing next to the man before he even turned.

"Oh, I-zaya!" he greeted with a warm smile. "You've come for lunch, yes? Go inside, eat! Here, take this coupon." He handed Izaya a flyer with clunky neon characters and the words _30% off all specials!!_ written in bold at the top. "It is a good deal, use it while you can, yes?"

Izaya snorted a laugh. "Will do, Simon," he said, waving the flyer before tucking it into one of the pockets of his gym bag.

Simon blinked down at him for a second, then his smile went wider. "You are in a better mood, I-zaya. What has lifted your spirits so?"

He looked at Izaya expectantly, but Izaya just rolled his eyes. "What do you mean? I'm the same as I was before."

"No, no," Simon said with a firm shake of his head. "This morning, I-zaya comes downstairs, looking like he is ready for war! Didn't even notice the snailfish soup I made for him! There has been a sour energy around you for the last week. If you're not careful, it will spread to the restaurant!"

"Sour energy, huh?" Izaya repeated, feeling the corners of his mouth twitch up a little.

"Yes. Was very sad to see you so unhappy." Simon shook his head solemnly, then rested a heavy hand on Izaya's shoulder. "Well, if the foul mood is gone, you should celebrate by eating sushi!"

"That sounds like an excellent idea," Izaya purred, ducking out of Simon's grip and into the restaurant. "Thanks, Simon."

"Enjoy, I-zaya-kun."

The restaurant was about half-full when Izaya stepped in. It was late into the lunch rush, so most of their patrons consisted of office workers dragging their feet to get back to work and a few students playing hooky from their last class of the day. Denis, who was behind the counter, glanced up as Izaya entered, nodding to Izaya.

Hopping over the counter, Izaya slipped past Denis and through the half-curtain divider that led upstairs. He skipped up the stairs two steps at a time, humming the last few bars of the song from the storefront on repeat. When he reached the top, he walked past Tom's office and, with the toe of his shoe, roughly shoved open the rickety sliding door to his room. Kicking off his shoes, Izaya stepped inside, nearly stepping onto a foot he hadn't noticed earlier.

"Watch it," he heard Shizuo snap nearly a second too late, giving Izaya just enough time to pull back. Looking down, Izaya found Shizuo, lounging on his futon in an old t-shirt and a worn pair of track pants, glaring at him fiercely. There was a stack of manga at his side, and one of them was laying half-opened on Shizuo's chest. "Close the door. Don't use your foot."

"Shizu-chan," Izaya hummed, raising an eyebrow and using his hand to slide the door shut. "What a surprise. Shinra told me you had work." Stepping over Shizuo, Izaya walked over to his side of the room, dumping his bag onto the floor beside the futon, then shrugging off his jersey to throw on top of it. Rifling through one of his drawers, he took out a clean shirt and pants as well as a towel, intent on taking a shower before he ventured out into the city for the day.

"Today's my day off," Shizuo grunted from the other side of the divider.

"I'm aware." Izaya poked his head out the side of the divider, raising his brow when Shizuo fixed him with another nasty look. "If you were free, you should have come to the dojo to watch the match. I'm sure you would've loved picking apart all my moves."

Shizuo's scowl deepened, his brows furrowing and his lips curling into a snarl that carried more viciousness than Izaya had seen in a while. He looked ready to snap, but the anger Izaya was expecting never came. Instead, Shizuo turned away, looking back down at his manga instead of Izaya. "Why are you still here," Shizuo growled, his fingers digging into the pages with barely restrained strength. "Don't you have a city to terrorize?"

"Mm, you're not wrong," Izaya hummed. "But right now, I'm terrorizing you! Don't you feel special, Shizu-chan?"

"I would feel more special if you would kindly fuck off and leave me alone," Shizuo snapped. "I don't want to see your shitty face for another second."

Izaya hummed softly, watching in amusement as Shizuo got more and more worked up even while he wasn't doing anything. "What's wrong? Going through monster puberty or something?" Shizuo didn't dignify the taunt with a response. "What's got your panties in a twist today?"

The sudden _slam_ of Shizuo's book onto the ground made Izaya jolt to attention. Shizuo was glaring at him with pure fire in his eyes, so much so that Izaya could almost feel the heat of it burning his skin.

"What the _fuck_ is wrong with you?" Shizuo demanded. Before Izaya could react, Shizuo lunged at him, his fist yanking at the collar of Izaya's shirt and dragging him bodily to his toes. Izaya instantly dropped what he was holding to push Shizuo away, his nails digging crescents into Shizuo's skin. But of course, the beast took no notice, his grip only tightening against the fabric. 

"Let go of me," Izaya snarled, lashing out one hand to shove his fingers against Shizuo's windpipe, but he hardly flinches. In response, Shizuo slammed Izaya's back against the wall, knocking the wind out of his lungs.

"Quit acting cute. That 'match' you had today was a fucking joke."

"What are you talking about," Izaya hissed, flailing out one leg to kick Shizuo in the shin. "Do you mean the practice match with Saburo? That was all in good fun, you moronic beast!"

"Yeah, right," Shizuo snorted disbelievingly. "As if I'm gonna believe that bullshit. You know, Kadota texted me after the match. Do you know what he said? He said you beat Saburo into the ground."

Izaya blinked incredulously at Shizuo. "You're mad that I'm good and the sport? Did reading fry your last living brain cell? Let go of my you brute!"

"Spirits, stop talking for one second! You walk around like you're the smartest person in the room, but you don't even think, do you! You challenged Saburo - who you _know_ doesn't like bending - to a 'practise round' completely unprompted, and for what? To humiliate him? To feed your own damn ego?" 

"What does it matter?" Izaya dug his nails deeper into Shizuo's skin, scratching and clawing at his knuckles until they were red and raw. With the hand that was still pressed against Shizuo's neck, Izaya shoved Shizuo's chin up and away, straining to push Shizuo out of his space to little avail. "It was a game that he willingly chose to play. I didn't force him into it; he had every opportunity to walk away, and he didn't take it."

"That doesn't change the fact that you were being an asshole!" Shizuo grabbed Izaya's hand that was at his neck, twisting it away from him before pinning the limb against the wall as well. "You're in a pissy mood all week, then all of a sudden, you're skipping around like you're on top of the world after you degrade my friend. And you expect me to believe it was all for fun?"

Izaya clicked his tongue, regarding Shizuo with disgust. It was one thing for Simon to have noticed, but it was downright repulsive how observant Shizuo was sometimes. "As much as I'd love to, I can't control your measly brain, nor your thoughts. Are you trying to play the hero or something? If Saburo takes offence to anything I've done, he can tell me himself. He doesn't need you to do it for him. Besides, this all proves that he's not a good fit for the team." Shizuo's brows knit together even tighter than they were before, only this time, it was in confusion, not frustration.

"What?" he barked. "The hell are you... you're _kidding_ me." Letting go of Izaya's wrist, Shizuo pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long sigh. "We were fucking _joking_."

Bristling, Izaya scratched hard at a patch of raw skin, continuing to struggle in Shizuo's caveman hold. "I'm not an idiot; I know what a joke is."

"Even if we wanted to replace you, there's nothing we could do," Shizuo continued, his voice growing in volume. "There was no plan to replace you. There was _never_ a plan to replace you with anyone, much less Saburo!"

"Good!" Izaya retorted, not shrinking back in the slightest. "Let this be a reminder to you that it's impossible to replace me. Your team would be nothing without me on it. You _need_ me!"

"Izaya, what the _fuck_! Why the hell do you have to be so damn competitive!"

" _Oi_." Whipping his head to the side, he met Denis' icy grey eyes. There was a deep frown etched on his features, irritation evident in his tense posture. The long length of a sushi knife was still in his hands, and even without the edge pointed at them, Izaya could feel the unspoken threat of it. "If you're going to fight, do it outside. We have customers downstairs."

From the corner of his eye, Izaya saw Shizuo prepare to protest for a second, then abandon the idea. Shizuo roughly released his grip on Izaya's shirtfront and stepped back. "Sorry," he grunted to Denis, not taking his eyes off Izaya for a second. "We're not fighting." If Denis was unconvinced, he didn't show it. Instead, he fixed them both with one last glower before heading down to the main floor.

Letting out a slow breath, Izaya silently rubbed at his sore sternum where Shizuo's fingers were digging into his skin. He would no doubt be bruised there later.

"Don't you have better places to be, Flea." Izaya blinked back up to see that Shizuo had retreated back to his futon, the manga back in his hands as if their altercation had never happened.

Lifting his nose into the air, Izaya picked up his forgotten towel and clothes with as much dignity as he could muster after being manhandled against the wall. "You're right. I'd almost forgotten." Shizuo didn't even spare him a glance.

‘ _Whatever,_ ’ Izaya huffed, feeling more irritated by Shizuo’s lack of reaction than when Shizuo was yelling in his face.

Though Denis had ended their conversation, it was clear that whatever argument they were headed to was over, and that Shizuo wanted nothing to do with him. Things that were being left unsaid were quietly swept under the rug despite the anger still stewing between them. But Izaya didn't let that bother him. If Shizuo wanted to throw a temper tantrum and stomp around like an overgrown toddler, so be it. Knowing Shizuo, he'd be back to normal in no time. After all, this wasn't their first argument and it certainly wouldn't be their last.

As Izaya headed to the showers, he spared one last glance at Shizuo, scowling when he saw that the other had completely turned his back on him. He didn't even look like noticed Izaya's gaze on him at all. Swallowing down his unease, Izaya snapped the door shut with enough force to rattle the old thing in its frame. He listened for a sound from the other side of the door but heard nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok ok ok so, I know this is late, but at least it's here! between school, uni apps, and getting sucked down the minecraft rabbit hole, i'm just glad i managed to stay focused enough to finish! plus human conflict. wow, look at me, writing deep, character-driven stories XD.
> 
> hopefully the next chapter comes out a little sooner. plus, maybe a few extra side projects that I really want to complete.
> 
> Thanks for reading! comments and kudos are greatly appreciated <333


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